Samsudeen Sarr, Former Army Commander and Gambian Diplomat to the UN
By Fatou Sillah
Samsudeen Sarr, former army commander and Gambian diplomat to the United Nations, says in an interview with Kerr Fatou that the ECOWAS military intervention forces in the Gambia [ECOMIG] should remain in the country as long as President Adama Barrow remains the leader of the country.
“ECOMIG should stay as long as Barrow is in power. The government of Barrow is a major factor in bringing ECOMIG here, and also for this duration that Barrow is in power, their presence really helps to stabilize the country.
“I will not recommend for them to leave when Barrow is in power because the reformation of the Army has gone beyond my imagination. We thought that day one it was going to be security sector reform, but it was predicated on the wrong assessment that the army is polluted and nonsensical. The promotions were bad, but then it never changed. The very reason that we attacked Jammeh for is what this government is doing,” he told Kerr Fatou.
Mr. Sarr said that the Senegalese military were present in the country from 1981 to 1989, after the coup d’état.
“Between 1981 and 1989, we have massive Senegalese military presence in this country after the coup d’état, and we all loved it in the Army. Why? Because we work with them and the Europeans were funding it, we had a quarter in that arrangement where we brought in our forces to join the confederation and enjoy the luxuries and benefits like the Senegalese,” he said.
Samsudeen Sarr added that if the ECOWAS has the Sudan Package within the ECOMIG arrangement, then there will not be any coup on the continent.
“If we have the Sudan Package within the ECOMIG arrangement, no soldier will think of the coup; all you wanted was to go to Sudan and comeback. No soldier will think, “Oh, these guys are stealing our resources, marginalizing us; instead, they will say I will have a turn to go to Sudan because the Europeans are paying a lot of money with that. He said
Mr. Sarr also recommends that the government involve the Gambian army in foreign stabilizing forces.
“I still want to give the possibility of the government looking into my recommendations of trying to involve the Gambia Army in these foreign stabilizing forces,” he said.