By Ensa AB Ceesay
Again, I would say it’s laughable to discuss misconceptions and defend my brother, Seedy Muctarr Touray, but I want Gambians to be the judge here, Mr Kebeli Demba Nyima.
The incompetence of the IGP cannot be overemphasised. He has woefully derailed from the police reform trajectory initiated by his predecessor. Comprehensive police reforms aim to enhance the effectiveness, accountability, and community relations of law enforcement. Abandoning these reforms has led to:
• Continued distrust and tension between law enforcement and the community
• Lack of accountability for misconduct
• Ineffective policing and public safety issues
• Potential human rights violations
Some key aspects of police reform include:
• Increased transparency and accountability
• Community policing and engagement
• De-escalation training and use-of-force policies
• Diversity and inclusion in policing.
The IGP’s approach to reforms is considered a mere technical fix. In fact, he has abandoned the tools and policies designed by his predecessor to usher in comprehensive police reforms, such as the Police Bill, the 2024-2028 National Policing Strategic Plan, the Needs Assessment, Training strategies, and a host of related policy documents.
Any vibrant recruitment policy did not guide the recent recruitment of over 1300 police officers. The families of politicians and senior government officials saturated the numbers. There were no standardised evaluation criteria during the recruitment process. This has resulted in the unfair treatment of candidates and the enlistment of individuals with criminal records, mental health issues, and other related issues. The subsequent training sessions were poorly planned, resulting in inadequate skills and knowledge gaps. Decreased productivity and performance, increased errors and accidents, low staff morale, and engagement as reflected in the mandatory incident report.
Considering the unwarranted promotions orchestrated by the IGP, it’s evident that the promotions were intended to buy him loyalty and were not guided by any policy or guidelines. The IGP, without consultation with his senior managers, unilaterally requested a list of individual police officers from senior government officials, politicians, and his cronies to be considered for promotion.
In a reform setting, the promotion of police officers is fundamentally altered to align with new objectives of accountability, transparency, professionalism, and community-oriented policing. The process moves away from political influence and arbitrary factors toward systems based on objective, merit-based criteria and a demonstrated commitment to the new policing ethos.
Despite the financial and physical resource constraints faced by the police force, the IGP’s financial indiscipline has led to:
• Mismanagement of funds
• Lack of transparency and accountability
• Inefficient allocation of resources and staff misplacement.
• Financial losses and instability
• Damage to reputation and credibility. A classical case in point is the vehicle he purchased for Commissioner Abdoulie Sanneh without adhering to procurement procedures. Aside from breaching procurement protocols, the IGP benefits from a minimum of $5,000 from police coffers in addition to the per diem paid by the central government anytime he travels overseas.
During the previous administration, the Police benefited from UNDP funding to roll out a case management system. The current IGP has completely abandoned the project. As a result, the police force lacks a credible system for collecting and reporting crime data, as well as established practices. The primary reasons for misleading crime data are to achieve political gain and support a particular agenda, as well as a lack of transparency and accountability.
Similarly, the IGP, based on favouritism, has unilaterally recommended the likes of Commissioner Famara Jobarteh, Commissioner Pa Alieu Jawara, and Chief Inspector Lamin Bojang for the extension of their retirement contracts, whilst a good number of diligent officers were denied on no just grounds.
It is equally befitting to state that a good number of female officers are experiencing sexual harassment and exploitation, which involves a significant abuse of power and is a serious violation of an individual’s rights. Due to the lack of available reporting and support mechanisms to address the situation safely and effectively, most female officers are traumatised and waiting for the right moment to speak up.
It’s an irrefutable fact that the IGP is merely advancing the projects and initiatives of his predecessor. Over one year in office, he has not initiated a single project to advance the transformation of the institution. No disrespect to him, but he is just clueless about policing, and that is the reason he’s fixated on internal fights, petty squabbles, and propaganda. He is entirely ignorant about police operations, especially reforms. He should do himself a favour and request that the president return him to the Immigration department, where his strengths lie.
Taking the foregoing and many other factors into consideration, no individual with a sound mind should advocate for village recognition, let alone international recognition for the IGP, for obvious factual reasons. The Gambia deserves a better IGP with the knowledge base in policing and its needed reforms. Let him desist from unnecessary propaganda and focus on the effective and efficient delivery of services to the Gambian populace.
If promoting a large number of officers is considered a measure of police reform or transformation leading to global or special recognition, the likes of the late IGP Mamour Jobe and former IGP Abdoulie Sanyang, who promoted over 600 Officers in June 2021 and January/March 2024, respectively, would have earned global recognition before the current IGP. Promoting and recruiting a large number of officers isn’t necessarily a measure of reforms.
I have extensively talked about crimes, human rights abuses and violations in open Gambia publications of August 5th 2024, in which I cited “Crime rates are another wrong sampling given by the IGP during his pronouncement at the press briefings with the journalists stating that we have lower crime rates in Gambia. This was untrue. Crime rates can be measured by a demographic sampling of all or most stations in the country. These can be found in each station’s diary, not what is collated at the Operation Centre at Police HQ.
Crime statistics collated at Police HQ are only a quarter of the hundred per cent usually reported at The Security Council’s briefings, which are generally held every Monday. They do not accurately represent what indeed exists in a country’s crime statistics database”. So I’m not going back to those any more because countless submissions were made on Gambia’s crime rate index.
It’s ironic that the author, Mr Kebeli Demba Nyima, who claims to have possessed a higher educational standing and deals with individuals from such backgrounds, advocates for a man who’s without even a diploma, yet leads the entire police service of a country. What’s the special interest of the author, Mr Kebeli Demba Nyima, here? The IGP lobbied for personal gains. He does not trust the police. Thus, the reason his driver and orderly are from the immigration department. The orderly carries a firearm, whereas a member of the PIU does not, and is neither legally allowed nor trained to carry weapons. Reciprocally, the members of the police force do not trust him either. Inside sources describe the work environment at police HQ as toxic due to pervasive lack of trust, transparency, poor strategic direction, and respect.
In my final rebuttal, I’ve served as an immigration officer at Serekunda Immigration Post, as well as a Station Officer at Barra Immigration Post. I have led several directors of the GID on the real-time operational needs of our personnel and how to alleviate those constraints. So you and your source were grossly misinformed about me, Mr Kebeli Demba Nyima
This isn’t personal, but somewhat beyond you or the IGP, whom I have defended on record in the past, not because he was handsome looking, but because he was on the right path at the time. Equally, my criticism of him today is purely merit-based, not ill-intended.
