By Fatou Sillah
Vice President Muhammed B.S. Jallow told the National Assembly that ECOMIG forces would remain in The Gambia for as long as their presence was considered necessary, saying there was no fixed date for the withdrawal of the regional security mission.
Responding to questions from the National Assembly member for Central Badibou, Hon. Sulayman Saho, about ECOMIG’s continued presence in the country, Mr. Jallow said the mission was subject to regular assessment by the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS.
“I wish to inform this august Assembly that the presence of ECOMIG will continue to be assessed, and when the need no longer exists, they will be withdrawn through the appropriate channel,” he said.
Mr. Jallow said ECOMIG’s deployment was governed by a multilateral arrangement involving ECOWAS, rather than a bilateral agreement between The Gambia and any individual country. He added that ECOWAS conducts annual assessments to determine whether the mission remains necessary.
“ECOWAS always does an assessment on an annual basis to see whether there is a need for the ECOMIG forces to stay in this country,” he said.
The vice president also pointed to the financial support required to maintain the mission, saying ECOWAS receives funding from other sources for the deployment.
“If those ones are not convinced of their necessity to stay, that funding will cease to exist,” he said.
ECOMIG operates under an ECOWAS command structure and includes contingents from regional countries. Mr. Jallow said any eventual withdrawal would be carried out through the appropriate channels once ECOWAS, in consultation with the Gambian government, determined that the mission was no longer required.
He rejected suggestions that The Gambia was effectively outsourcing its security responsibilities by continuing to rely on ECOMIG, saying he disagreed with that characterization.
Asked whether ECOMIG personnel had engaged in activities that violated ECOWAS protocols, Mr. Jallow said he was not aware of any such incidents.
Lawmakers also questioned him about a previously reported incident involving Senegalese ECOMIG personnel at the State House. Mr. Jallow said the matter had been raised before in the National Assembly and that the country’s security authorities had provided the appropriate responses at the time.
ECOMIG’s continued deployment has remained a subject of public and political debate in The Gambia, with questions over how long the regional force should remain as the country develops the capacity of its own security institutions.
Comments are closed.