By Omar Bah
The administrative secretary of the National People’s Party has welcomed the extension of the stay of the West African troops, Ecomig, warning that it would be a grave mistake to allow the forces to leave now.
Ecowas heads of state and government last week decided to extend the mandate of the regional troops in The Gambia for one year in addition to plans to transform it into a police mission after December 2021 election.
Critics of the Barrow administration have since blasted the decision describing it as an affront to the country’s sovereignty.
But speaking in a Star FM exclusive to be aired today, Mambanyick Njie argued: “Everybody is entitled to your opinion but I cannot believe that The Gambia is so safe and secured to the extent that we should allow Ecomig to leave. We all know the military was so polarized under Jammeh. Many people believe that the military was also tribalised and if you look at the TRRC and listen to all the atrocities committed by soldiers, it is only safe to sort out these things first before allowing Ecomig to leave.”
He continued: “We will have to properly look at our military setup to ensure that the soldiers understand their responsibility and how to operate in a civic democratic system. That is very important. When we achieve all these things and we are confident that the military is no more putting their mouths in politics, then we can allow Ecomig to leave.”
Njie added that there are people who even want the Ecomig forces to go, especially the Senegalese soldiers because they want President Barrow to be overthrown. “They think it is the Senegalese forces that are protecting the president. But frankly speaking, I think even the Gambian military is aware that they are now free but again every change will have to come with its own consequences and that’s exactly what the military, police and all of us should live with until we get there,” he added.
He said those who are complaining about the troops’ long stay should blame former president Jammeh for refusing to step down in 2016. “We all know, if Jammeh had accepted to step down, Ecomig would not have come into the country,” he said.
Njie said the country needs a serious change of attitude when it comes to the way government officials approach work.
“Let me take driving license as an example. We all know license about D500 or so but we have seen people paying police officers D1500 to get them licenses. Is that not corruption? So really, we have to change our attitudes,” he added.
He said the president should start to be tough on government officials to show them that they are appointed to serve the people.
“There are some people in government who don’t support President Barrow but they are doing their utmost best to serve the nation. But those who are not supporting him and are not serving the purpose of why they were appointed should be removed. That is the truth. If you know you don’t support President Barrow and because of that, you cannot honestly serve the Gambian people, the honorable thing to do is to resign,” he added.
Commenting on the hike in prices of commodities, Njie suggested that the government should come up with policies that will empower Gambian businesses to stop the domination of foreign-owned businesses in the country.
“But if the government does that, Gambian businesses should also ensure that they don’t take advantage of that,” he advised.
