Former Deputy inspector General of Police and one time Commander of the default Gambian Gendarmerie during the Jawara regime, Ebrima Ismaila Chongan has said that unfortunately he felt like he has been vindicated in resisting the illegal take over of the Jawara Regime by Junior military officers in 1994 and refusing to ever work for their illegal government. Mr. Chongan who was our guest on Gainako Radio narrated in details some of the missteps that he called “strategic mistakes by the Jawara regime which may have led to the sudden overthrow of the government in July 1994 with little resistance.
Mr. Chongan in speaking to Gainako Radio said Former President Jawara’s decision to bring Nigerian Soldiers whose country was the symbol of military takeovers in Africa to train the Gambian Army was a strategic mistake. He said as far as he was aware neither him or the then Commander of the Arm Forces and Police Force were consulted before an executive decision was made by Jawara to bring in the Nigerian Soldiers. “I don’t know why the President made that decision but it was a mistake” . The Nigerian Soldiers who were never used to being commanded by civilian leaders were confused and did not know how to handle the security situation in Banjul. They then recommended the disbanding of the Gambian Gendamerie merging them with the police and some with the army before restricting Senior Army Commanders at the Banjul Army Headquarters leaving Junior Soldiers headed by Lieutenants to control the Army barracks and all security weapons. Mr. Chongan attributed this security blunder as a major contributing factor to the success of the Military takeover in Gambia.
Chongan also said while there were some deficiencies in the handling of security forces in the Gambia, due to limited resources, the institutions were mainly independent of the civilian government and were not there to take illegal orders from the Jawara government. He cited an election incident in the Provinces where he had gone to Sir Dawda and informed him that the Gendamerie were not a partisan force and therefore was there to protect all citizens from election violence. He said “I respected Sir Dawda for that because he could have dismissed me and even send me to jail if it was Jammeh’s time”
Mr. Chongan further revealed that he was one of few people who did not buy into the military takeover despite all their attractive promises of “Accountability, transparency and probity” to which many Gambians including members of the PPP accepted. He said the military take over was not planned and in fact it started as a mutiny but with little resistance it ended up being a military coup. He gave evidence that it took the young military junta led by Jammeh and Sabally almost one week to form a government proofing that they were never prepared to take over as a government. Chongan discussed various issues which can be heard through the interview rebroadcast.
In his concluding remarks, Mr. Chongan urged President Jammeh to do the right thing and put Gambia back on the right track for democracy and good governance. He warned that Jammeh has two choices he could either live as Former Ghanian Military President J J Rawlings who despite all atrocities he committed in Ghana during his military rule he ended up given up power and is now living a private dignified life accepted by his country. The other option Chongan went on is for Jammeh to continue to dig his own grave which will eventually end in an ugly manner. He cited Samuel Doe of Liberia, Mobulu of Zaire and other African dictators as a catalyst for Jammeh’s final demise if he refuses to reform himself.
Chongan called for forgiveness and reconciliation and said he has forgiven the people who tortured him and “what is important now is for Gambians to focus on rebuilding our country” since everyone has become a victim whether they tortured others or not. Mr. Chongan is optimistic that change is inevitable in Gambia and that the Opposition leaders needs to breach the deadlock and work on not party unity but demand Democratic reform with a common front.
Stayed tuned on to Gainako Radio to listen to the indept interview with the Former Deputy Inspector General of Police who served almost 30 months in Jail before fleeing the Gambia. He now lives in the United Kingdom with his family and works as a legal scholar for the UK Central government. He is also the author of a book “the price of Duty” which chronicled his years in Gambian Service and experience in the hands of the military Junta. The book can still be purchased on Amazon.com