By D. A. Jawo
These two terms; Ambassador and High Commissioner can sometimes be confusing to some people. Are they exactly the same or do they have differences?
Of course, while they may be similar in meaning, but they also have some fundamental differences. However, not many Gambians know their differences, and as far as a majority of us are concerned, it is just “Baa bula juloola and juloo bula baala” (tie the goat with the rope and tie the rope on the goat).
In fact there are prominent Gambians who have no idea about the differences of these two terms. For instance, we heard President Adama Barrow during his recent visit to Sierra Leone referring to our High Commissioner there as the “Ambassador”. I can also recall a prominent Gambian politician whom I once met in Dakar telling me that he had an appointment with the British High Commissioner in Senegal and that he was on his way to the British High Commission in Dakar.
The main differences between the two terms are that high commissioners are usually diplomatic representatives from countries with special relationships. In our case, for instance, representatives of Commonwealth countries are high commissioners because of the special relationships that exist between member states of the Commonwealth. We also have a special relationship with Senegal, hence the reason why our diplomatic representatives are referred to as high commissioners. Otherwise, all other diplomatic representatives in this country are ambassadors.
We can recall that during the brief period that the Gambia exited from the Commonwealth, the British High Commission changed their letterhead from High Commission to an Embassy and the British High Commissioner was being addressed in diplomatic circles as ambassador; because that special relationship which existed through the Commonwealth was no longer there.
Certainly, such special relationship does not exist between Senegal and the United Kingdom, and therefore it is not correct to refer to the British ambassador in Senegal as a High Commissioner.
