Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of the Gambia Dr. Aboubacr Senghore has been appointed as the new Foreign Affairs Minister replacing Susan Wafaa Ogoo who was dismissed last week without explanation. Susan Wafaa-Ogoo is one of Jammeh’s longest serving aids who has been recycled numerous times to many other positions including Tourism.
Dr. Senghore is a renown academic scholar and holds a PhD in International Human Rights Law and have served as Head of Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the Gambia. He is also an associate lecturer at the Management Development Institute. He worked as a Legal & Research Officer and Head of the Legal and Research Department of the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies in Banjul, from August 1999 – December 2002.
Dr. Senghore’s appointment could not have come at the worst time as President Jammeh’s human rights records is regarded as one of the worst in West Africa. One would think that appointing such a scholar to this position would be a blessing as he could potentially help rebuild the image of the government.
Unfortunately, like many scholars before him Dr. Senghore’s appointment would only be a wasted opportunity as he is likely to be neither effective nor useful to the University of the Gambia where he has been serving well. It has been a trend for this government to tap qualified scholars for its political appointments only to ignore their expertise and render them ineffective. Many seasoned scholars have served Jammeh in various capacities but their stories always end in a very tragic and shameful manner.
Dr. Senghore’s acceptance of such appointment may be one of those “damn if you do and damn if you don’t” opined one source. The source said Mr. Senghore had little or no choice in taking the position as he would have lost his faculty position should he refuses the position. Common sense however dictates that he would have been better served declining the position as he is only allegedly being used for his profile which history will be the better judge.