The first batch of the New Presidential Guards of 150 personnel which include 21 female soldiers yesterday departed for Dakar, Senegal for further training.
Addressing the troops before departure at the Gambia Armed Forces Training School in Fajara, the Chief of Defence Staff Lt General Masanneh N Kinteh, congratulated the troops and extended President Barrow’s greetings to them. The CDS expressed satisfaction about the reconstruction of the new Presidential Guards as part of the agenda of the new government.
He said the need for the dissolution of the former state guards came at a time when the security architecture was in absolute need.
It is in this quest that the President and C-I-C Mr Adama Barrow consulted his Senegalese counterpart for the new batch of the Presidential Guards to undergo further training in Dakar. However, due to the protocols involved, the training could not commence as scheduled, he said.
The CDS also informed troops that the New Presidential guards will be a mixture of various security services of the country. He advised the troops to forget about their individual, regional and differences and focus on the training as a team to achieve the desired outcome, “through which you can adequately take care of the security of the seat of Government.”
The personnel are led by Major Kuluteh Manneh.
