GPF undertakes crisis management exercise

The exercise was aimed at engaging the Gambia Police Force and assessing its capacity to manage crisis at different levels of command. It was also designed to enhance command and control, thereby strengthening leadership and decision-making and promote synergy and partnership with stakeholders, including local government authorities.

Officials believe the exercise would greatly equip them with the requisite knowledge to respond to crisis management situations using ‘land dispute’ as a scenario, thus building on the broader community, regional and national security in line with the Crisis Management Manual and Police Doctrine.

At the forum, Abubakarr Suleiman Jeng, National Security Adviser, explained that there is an ongoing Security Sector Reform (SSR) programme undertaken by the government in rebuilding its national security institutions’ capabilities towards contributing to global peace and security.

The Gambia government, he added, is committed to promoting the culture of tolerance, good governance, rule of law and human rights.

Jeng observed that since the introduction of the SSR program in the Gambia in 2017, their bilateral partners have continued to support the process which sets out the parameters necessary to enable the fulfilment of legitimate security functions through reforms, restructuring and institutional development.

He affirmed that significant level of reforms activities has been achieved in terms of capacity building and institutional development of security services, and that the SSR is on course and the government is determined to carry the process to a logical end to achieve a well-defined security architecture for the country.

Ken Isaac-DCAF’s head of office in Banjul, said that in DCAF support to crisis management, leadership, command, control and the ability to respond to a crisis are key and critical components of the current project DCAF is implementing in support of SSR which is funded by the EU.

He added that they adjusted their program so that the crisis management training was completed in advance of the 2021/2022 election campaigns, thereby providing support to the GPF and partner agencies where they could be of most assistance.