By Adama Makasuba
Brigadier General, Mamad O Cham, who appeared as the sixth witness to testify before the Truth Reparation and Reconciliation Commission at the Dunes Hotel has said that there was a command vacuum within the army during the 1994 coup.
Mr. Cham, 58, added that at that time Nigerian soldiers were in the country but they didn’t intervene to thwart the coup because they saw it as a national matter which Gambians should addressed.
“Nigerian soldiers saw it as a national thing and they were careful to get themselves involved in the situation. At that time there were command vacuum within the army,” he said.
But he lamented that there were also lack of proper military logistics like transportation, adding that a troop that was ordered from Farafenni to Barra at that fateful day couldn’t make it on time due to mobility challenges.
Mr. Cham, who is a native of Kerr Mbuguma in Lower Niumi joined the Gambia National Army in 1985 and attained his military training both at home and in the United States.
He explained to the commission that on the day of the coup, he, Captain Ebrima Kambi and Wilson were blocked 200 meters away from Denton Bridge by a group of soldiers, who told them that military coup has taken place and they had to report back to Yundum Barrack.
He added that: “We arrived at the bridge between 9:30am to 10:00am; by then, there was commotion and panic. The posture was very aggressive; the soldiers were in battle orders and we were not armed.”
He also said that after their wedged at the bridge, they went to Fajara Barracks to locate and mobilize soldiers who were loyal to the then PPP government to resist against the coupist but added that they met the Barrack had been taken over by the coupist.