The chairman of civil society organisations (CSOs) in The Gambia, John Njie, has faulted the reappointment of soldiers accused of a coup.
Njie made this known during a one-day forum on the ‘Role of CSOs and the Media towards the Security Sector Reforms (SSR)’, which was held at the NaNa conference hall.
The convergence was organised by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), with funding from the British High Commission in The Gambia.
‘Reinstating personnel of The Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) who were accused of Coup d’état in the system was totally wrong’, Njie said.
‘Rewarding people that partake in coup d’états is totally wrong and I am surprised that nobody has condemned this both within the civil societies and the media.
‘We need to look at the issue of coup d’état critically. If we support the reinstatement of some soldiers that embarked on a coup and are reinstated in the system that means some soldiers can also take up guns to overthrow a future government, who knows. The question is whether those soldiers are also going to be rewarded’?
On the issue of downsising certain security units in the country, he said the issue should be critically looked into before it turns into something else.
Other issues raised during the meeting was whether the GAF could be involved in agriculture.
Many participants believed that the army could be involved in agricultural activities in the country but their involvement should not be commercialised.
They called on security personnel to respect the dignity of people while executing their duties.
Source: The Point
Photo source: Paul Kagame
