By Olimatou Coker
Independent presidential candidate Essa Faal has vowed to end the presence of West African troops in The Gambia within the first three months of his presidency.
Speaking to his supporters in Farafenni on Friday, Faal said: “If I am given the chance to become the president, in my first 30 days I will make sure that all the Ecomig troops go back to their various countries because their presence here has no use to us. We salute all our soldiers because we believe they respect and trust their work and we are going to entrust them with the country’s security.”
He accused the Barrow administration of neglecting Gambian soldiers.
“No one cares about them, no one looks after them. They brought some soldiers from outside The Gambia and packed our soldiers like that for no reason. That is very sad and very wrong to do. We all know that our soldiers are very disciplined and have respect as well. They know their work and are professional in their work. Why do you need the continued presence of troops when there is no war in the country?” he queried.
Faal said the turnout in his meeting in Farafenni surpasses those of his opponents.
“It demonstrates that Gambian youths are speaking and they are saying that Barrow should step down and the reason is that nothing is working in this country for our youths,” he said.
Faal said the country’s health facilities are all in deplorable condition. “Even the EFTSH which is The Gambia’s pride, when you go there now you find people laying helplessly on the floor. We cannot even have proper beds for patients to rest on and people are dying because of lack of mere gloves,” he said.
He said the government doesn’t care about the people. “This is why they don’t even care about providing Paracetamol in our hospitals. They are not here for you but for themselves,” he charged.
