The Minister of Defence Mr. Sheikh Omar Faye, has told members of National Assembly that the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) needs adequate resources to deliver its constitutional mandate of protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
Faye–a former soldier– was speaking at the past adjournment debate at the National Assembly, where he responded to issues raised by the lawmakers, about his Ministry.
“The GAF are ready to take over the sovereignty and integrity to protect this country. We need the resources, because the logistics are not enough. The men and women (in uniform) are ready and willing to do it, but it is very expensive. I am sure that this National Assembly is aware of it”, he argued, noting that the budgets had been slashed due to obvious reasons. But Faye also lamented that it’s not easy to police every kilometer in the country due to lack of manpower.
Notwithstanding these challenges, he informed the august assembly that they have located their battalions in very critical areas of the country, with patrols ongoing, and he assured that they would continue to do their utmost.
The Defence Minister again: “We need more funding. We need more budget to make sure that we deliver our constitutional mandate. We are also working with our partners to resolve this unfortunate situation.”
On the ECoMIG, Faye told the lawmakers that the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government had looked at the ECOWAS as a sub-region and have come with recommendations to review the presence of ECOMIG forces in the Gambia, and West Africa as a whole.
“I have just received a team few days ago, and they are going on an assessment of the whole situation. That is where we are right now with regards to ECOMIG presence in the Gambia”, he told the NAMs at that material time.
On the recent Foni incident (clashes between Senegalese soldiers and MFDC fighters), he asserted that a report had “just been handed over to the executive”, as he referred to his recent visit to the area, during which he had exchanges with the villagers, saying “things have gone back to normal”.
He said a lot of other Gambians have also visited the affected villages to support and reassure that the “occurrence is averted. Sometimes things happen that you don’t know how they happen. We never thought that at this stage in the history of our country, that we will (have) these issues happening in that part of the country”.
Faye added, “We think that we are going to move with the development agenda after a successful presidential election and inauguration.” He said they are encouraging dialogue and ensure that every Gambian lives in peace.
On our troops’ participation in UN peacekeeping mission, he said it’s in the pipeline, but needs critical enablers and to meet the United Nations’ criteria to present a battalion in peacekeeping.
“We have gone advanced stage to procure the equipment necessary, so that our men and women will have the opportunity to be deployed to the Central African Republic and anywhere around the world that the UN wants the Gambia”, said Faye.
He also informed that the Firing Range at Brikama is under renovation, and as such, they are now using a place called Tintiba, with the objective to transform it to a military hospital (according to the leadership at the GAF). He had used the opportunity to commend the lawmakers (of the outgoing parliament) for their excellent services to the Gambia and her people.
It could be noted that the National Assembly had held its final season for the Fifth Legislature, and elections for the next parliament is due in April, this year.
