The domestic and international reputation of a nation has a lot to do with a country’s law enforcement agencies. The enforcement of law and order; respect for human rights, freedom of assembly, of speech and the media largely depends on law enforcement. For over two decades Gambia was regarded as a police and military state because the security apparatus who are entrusted to enforce the law, provide security and protect the lives and liberties of citizens turned to be oppressors and violators of fundamental rights and freedoms. From killing of citizens; arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance and tortures, you name it Gambia’s security forces were responsible for it. Ironically, they too became victims of their own clandestine operations as the dictatorial regime turned them against each other.
After the changed happened in the Gambia in 2016 the priority of the State supported by international donors were supposed to focus on security reforms. The European Union and the United Nations invested heavily on security reforms and launched numerous studies to reform all the security apparatus in the country. This huge deficit in security sector failures necessitated the ECOMIG intervention force staying longer than necessary in the Gambia after the Jammeh regime was defeated through the ballot box and threat of arm intervention.
However, one is tempted to ask, what is the purpose of security reforms if the same people who perpetrated and willfully participated in tortures, arrest and extrajudicial killings are kept in their positions with little to no change in command or operational manuals. President Adama Barrow’s inability or lack of courage to take drastic action to fundamentally change the leadership of many of these security apparatus is largely responsible for the failures of the much talked about security reforms. In fact, despite three years of security reforms engagement including bringing outside experts, the country’s security both internal and external remain as fragile as ever. The country’s security is held together by the presence of the ECOMIG forces thus President Barrow’s continuous efforts to extend their mission in the country.
But let’s be honest, it is people like Gorgi Mboob head of Anti Crime Unit, who confessed to making up stories and lying about his involvement in the April 2000 killings and torture of innocent students who are a bad rap to the Gambia police force and the country as a whole. How realistic can the Gambia attain a glimmer of hope in security reforms when almost all heads of security units in the country are confessed Jammeh operatives who are on record being involved in gross human rights violations, tortures and blatant abuse of citizen rights. Consider the following people who actively served in the Jammeh regime as either perpetrators or active participants and promoters of two decades of brutality in the Gambia. From the Defense Minister; the Minister of Interior, the head of SIS formerly the NIA, the IGP and many other senior security officers were all directly involved in the operations of the Jammeh machine. How can Gambia succeed in reforming the security system when the mentality of these security heads is that they are invincible and have no reason to change their mode of operandi as long as they are allowed to keep their jobs.
It is beyond any doubt that Gorgi Mboob head of Anti Crime Unit (ACU) has been in the news several times for allegedly violating fundamental rights of citizens including recent alleged tortures one Ebrima Sanneh from Brikama as reported by Gainako’s Flex Dan. Readers may also recalled that it was Gorgi Mboob’s antic crime unit who were the perpetrators of the youth protests in 2019 which saw the arrest of several young citizens for alleged involvement in rioting. How long will the Barrow Government remain mute while these head of securities clearly doesn’t represent the best image of the country. What would it take for President Barrow to take the bold step to weed the Gambia’s security sectors of such citizens who have no respect for rule of law and fundamental rights of citizens? What is the difference between Yahya Jammeh using these security apparatus to impose his will on citizens and Adama Barrow willfully trusting these same people to instill discipline and rule of law within the police and security force? How many arrests, unnecessary questioning and even lost of lives of citizens in the hands of police would it take for the President to take the lead and weed the system of such bad raps?
Mr. President leadership is about taking bold steps in making personnel decisions. The people you hire and trust in your government are a direct representation of your mindset and competence as a leader. You had a golden opportunity to revive Gambia out of the disaster you found it. But even elementary logic tells you that if you maintain the same head of departments and institutions, you will never get change. You have tried retaining these people in the system in the first few years with the hope that they will change things around. How much more evidence do you need to get that these peoples’ mindset are contrary to what you were elected to do for the Gambia. Mr. Barrow you were never elected to build roads, form a political party and or perpetuate yourself in power. You were elected to change the trajectory the Gambia was headed. It wasn’t only about the killings and or looting by Jammeh and his hit men, it was about the future of the country sir.
Mr. President even your worst enemies can tell you that the writings are on the wall for you to see that a bold, courageous and decisive political more is eminent on you to get rid of these bad elements within our security system and public sectors. Let no one fool you, that being a citizen doesn’t equate being patriotic or love for country. Majority of your security heads, your trusted ministers have no new ideas to change the directions of the country. It is therefore incumbent on you sir to get out of your bubble, see the situation of the country and take the leadership decision to make drastic changes. Your legacy is being written on a bad slate in broad day light and you cannot get around yourself to make the simple decision of getting rid of incompetent and irresponsible heads of institutions. Sir, those who failed to learn from their mistakes are condemned to repeat them and as we pen this editorial you are losing your national and international respect for being a leader. Leadership is about decision making. You make the difficult decisions or forever regret not taking advantage of the opportunity to correct course. It is never too late to do the right thing. The world is watching with laser eyes and history is repeating itself right in front of your very eyes. If your ultimate goal is to keep yourself in power for as long as you can regardless of the cost, we can assure you that it will never end well just like your predecessors! Open your eyes and most important lead!