By Buba Gagigo
Hon. Omar Ceesay, former National Assembly Member for Niamina East Constituency, has described president Adama Barrow’s statement on the Security Sector Reform (SSR) as misleading.
President Adama Barrow, during his launch of the country’s first-ever Defence Policy on Wednesday, said that his government takes security sector reforms seriously as part of the country’s development agenda.
The erstwhile National Assembly Member for Niamina took exception to that characterization.
“If the government is undertaking Security Sector Reform (SSR) seriously as much as he claimed, why do we continue to have the Senegalese Soldiers mounting almost all sectors of the security component in the country, including the state house?” Hon. Omar Ceesay asked.
He said that the impact of the reform was never felt at any level because the government had lost trust and confidence in the security forces from the very day Barrow became president.
“The rationale behind the course of this reform is to continue lobbying and looting public funds, and not to give our able men and women in uniform their dues. Mr. President, making a new friend is by choice but maintaining an old friend could be considered self-protection. Such a misleading statement coming from the president should be regarded as flimsy and clumsy,” he said.