By Tabora Bojang
Foreign Minister Dr Mamadou Tangara was on the hot seat at the National Assembly yesterday, bombarded with questions about the fate of several Gambian diplomats recalled over one scandal or the other.
In the last several years, Gambian diplomats have been recalled or expelled from their positions in the US, Cuba, Mauritania and Russia over one ’embarrassment’ or the other.
Confronted over these matters in the Assembly, Minister Tangara said some Gambian diplomats whose conducts brought embarrassment to the country have been removed from the foreign service.
The minister did not disclose the names of persons involved but last year, four diplomats, were expelled by the US government for different offences including visa fraud.
Another incident at the Gambian embassy in Cuba resulted in the recalling of two diplomats for involvement in an “unfortunate incident’. A finance officer there too was recalled.
In one of the latest incidents, a diplomat was recalled from Mauritania under controversial circumstances.
Asked what further steps have been taken by his ministry beside recalling some of the diplomats concerned, Minister Tangara replied: “In addition to recalling them, some of the diplomats are no longer with the foreign service even though they are part of the civil service. We cannot get them out of the civil service but we can advise that they don’t join the foreign service anymore because they represent the Gambia and it is the image of the country that is at stake”.
Dr Tangara said what obtains in other countries is that when diplomats get into controversies, they will leave by themselves. “This is always not the case here, so we have to take our responsibility and remove them from the foreign service,” he said.
Asked what happens after the recall, Tangara said: “Once we recall them, we put them under the disposal of the civil service and the onus is on those responsible to place them wherever they want. Our duty is just to recall them and when we feel they are not fit to be with us [foreign service] we put them at the disposal of civil service.”
