Gainako can confirmed that a large entourage of Security personnel have arrived in Washington DC ahead of President Jammeh’s visit to the United States to attend the African leaders’ summit organized by the U.S President Barrack Obama. The security team is led by Ansumana Tamba who is the current head of the security services at the President’s office.
Mr. Baboucarr Jobarteh who is also the head of the Protocol team is also reported to be accompanying the high level security team to Washington DC. Readers may recalled that Mr. Jobarteh was one time hired and fired by President Jammeh for no apparent reasons. He was in fact jailed at the mile II prisons for several months before being released and recycled to the Protocol Office at the State House.
Our impeccable sources around the DC area spotted the security team at their hotel in Down town DC. The security team arrived ahead of the President’s visit to lay down the ground for greater security and preparation of other logistics before the President’s arrival. The US – Africa leaders’ summit is scheduled to commence on Monday August 4th through August 6th in Washington DC. It is worth noting that nothing is unusual for a security team to arrive in advance of the visit of a head of State. However, Jammeh’s large entourage is reportedly a sign of fear of repeat of the New York Demonstration when few Gambian activists barricade his hotel and prevented him and his entourage from freely moving back and fort to the hotel. Momodou Sabally who was recently fired and still detained incommunicado was the head of the delegation.
President Obama organized the African leaders’ summit to open a dialogue between the Obama White House and African leaders. The US President is also reported to be preparing to challenge the African leaders to take advantage of the continent’s most valuable resources – the youths. He will encourage dialogue and discuss investment opportunities between US businesses and the African continent. Mr. Obama was quoted in a Q & A sessions with young African leaders as saying “I will emphasize the importance of good governance”
Many activists are skeptical of President Obama’s invitation of some of the African leaders who have dismal human rights records, poor governance and suppression of democracy and rule of law in their nations. Some activists issued petition calling on President Obama to dis-invite leaders such as the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh who has ruled the tiny West African nation with impunity for 20 years. Jammeh’s impending visit effectively sets the stage for confrontation with political and human rights activists who wows to highlight the gross human rights violations and citizen disappearances in the Gambia since Jammeh came to power through force. Some Gambians believe that President Jammeh should take advantage of this visit and organized a town hall or face to face meeting with Gambian dissidents. They insisted that dialogue is the only way for Jammeh to address the concerns of Gambians citizens in the Diaspora. This is very unlikely to happen added one of our sources in DC. Gainako will continue to closely monitore the activities of the security team and activists’ preparations for the demonstrations and will update our readers accordingly.