The Honourable Minister of Interior of Guinea Bissau, Botche Cande, on the 13th of November, paid a three- day working visit to The Gambia and was hosted by the Honourable Minister of Interior, Yankuba J.N Sonko. During the visit, Hon. Cande and his entourage paid a courtesy call to all the security institutions under the purview of the Ministry of Interior. The visit was extended to his Excellency President Adam Barrow and the Chief of Defence Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces, from the 13th to 17TH of November 2020.
The three-day visit was regarded a very important step towards strengthening security bilateral ties between the Republic of Guinea Bissau and the Republic of The Gambia.
During the courtesy call, various security apparatuses were visited with the aim to share and learn best practices aligning democratic principles of good security and governance. The Government of the Gambia through the Ministry of Interior acknowledged the visit and showed its political will to maintain the existing relationship between the two governments. The courtesy call constitutes specifically, a fight towards terrorism, trafficking of illicit drugs, human smuggling and trafficking. This is all geared towards safeguarding human security in the realm of stabilization of social, economic and political rights of the citizens of the region as contained in conventions advocated by the UN, AU and ECOWAS.
Meanwhile during security dialogue with Minister Cande, the security sectors of the Gambia have willingly given their support to the proposed communique for signing between the ministries of the two states for strengthening cooperation. The two states promised to share information and intelligence required for the proliferation of peace, security and stability within the entire region.
Highlighting on the importance of the visit, the Honourable Minister of Interior, Yankuba JN Sonko described the courtesy call as timely and significant, particularly in the area of security dynamics, socially, economically, culturally and in political dimensions.
Minister Sonko stated that the visit of the Interior Minister of Bissau to the Gambia emanated from the President of the Republic of The Gambia’s visit to Bissau on bilateral relations between the two states, noting that, ”We are all aware that no one nation can fight crime alone, we all need the cooperation of other countries to fight crime. Since Senegal and Guinea Bissau are our immediate neighbors, it is important that we have this tripartite cooperation with the three nations to stop trans-national crimes, criminals moving from one country to another, criminals entering from one border to another, these are the common objectives of our cooperation with our immediate neighbours,” he said.
In his farewell remarks, Minister Cande said he is very much delighted with the level of welcome accorded to him and his delegation, and the kind of respect and discipline showed to him by the various security departments throughout his entire visit in The Gambia. He as well expressed his appreciation to Hon. Minister Sonko and through him, he extended his heartfelt message to President Barrow and the heads of all the various security apparatus for their support and cooperation towards his visit in the Gambia.
By Fatoumata Joof, Information Officer, Ministry of the Interior
