By Musa s. Sheriff
A US-based Gambian criminologist, specialising on law enforcement and national security crisis, has urged the government to start preparing for life after the West African troops. In January, Miatta Lily French, the Ecowas country representative in The Gambia, hinted that the Ecomig troops stationed in the country will start winding down their mission unless there is a security situation that might dictate otherwise. Last month, Bubakarr Suleiman Jeng, the National Security Adviser (NSA) also hinted that the government is working progressively towards the eventual withdrawal of the troops.
But Modou Lamin Faye, a Seattle based regular contributor on security matters in the country, said the government should take serious measures now to restore trust and confidence in the military.
Tactical team
He said the government should include a provision of a tactical team for all the country’s security forces in the National Security Policy.
“Developing a National Security Policy goes hand in hand with having a Tactical Playbook to better understand and prepare us for what if situations, (terrorist attacks, hostage rescue, active shooter, and gang/organized crime response). Based on the September 12th, 2017, assessment of the Security Sector Reform (SSR) of The Gambia, it sheds more light on policies, rights of all Gambians and non-Gambians alike. A tactical playbook to respond to what if situations should have been developed and put in place by a separate team of security experts (Gambians) to get the security forces going on their tactical trainings while the SSR is being developed since research shows that it could take decades to build or rebuild institutions,” Faye said.
He added that a good example in “our situation could be, what if we had a terrorist attack, active shooter, hostage rescue or organized crime that we needed to respond to between September 12th, 2017, and now. How would we have responded without putting our officers and citizens lives in danger? What if there was a bomb that needed to be defused and we don’t have a bomb squad on standby to safely defuse it? The examples go on and on”.
“With a tactical playbook in place, the controversy or misunderstanding of the excessive use of force that occurs between the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) and the public during riots would be avoided. Holding an AK-47 is one thing but being able to mentally, emotionally, and psychologically be prepared to eliminate a threat while under pressure without shooting innocent bystanders or other responding officers is another. This is why it’s important to develop a tactical playbook and have tactical teams at every security institution who would be trained every day to deal with uncommon situations like that. I know most people in our government will be naïve/in denial and say, “ah fi dara du fi hew” even after the recent attack on one of our officers in Fass. This is why our non-profit organization (Better Police and Military Equipment for Gambia) was established and has developed FIVE phases of tactical security plans. This initiative will also be used to help with training our officers,” he said.
He added: “My company (ML’s Cleaning, Moving, & General Services) has taken the initiative and donated funds to the organization and the funds have been used to purchase the following new items to put phase ONE in motion: 40 tactical vests, 40 tactical helmets and headphones, 70 tactical masks, 40 uniforms, 40 two-way radios, 40 tactical backpacks with water bladders, 40 flashlights, 40 body cameras for operation and evidence gathering, one night vision goggle, 40-tactical boots, 40-gun holsters, 40- pistol magazine pouches, and 40 custom made police/Gambian flag patches. Our goal is to purchase 100 of each of the items mentioned above for phase one.
“We have reached out to Barrow’s Administrations and are looking forward to partner up and have them contribute to the organization to put this cause to life by equipping, training, and maintaining our security forces as they are obligated to do so per “Section 186 (3)” of The Gambia Constitution, which states that The Armed Forces shall be equipped and maintained to perform their role of defense and “Section 178 (2)”, which states that the Police Force shall be equipped and maintained to perform its traditional role of maintaining law and order. When are we ever going to learn to do things for ourselves and not heavily rely on external aids to train and equip our people or fix our problems? It’s ok to ask for aid as every country does that but we should start doing things for ourselves, support our own, and stop expecting handouts from other countries. It’s ok to accept donations but as an independent country, we should start working hard together to get the things that we need and earn the respect that we deserve and just have external aids be a plus,” he stated.
He went on: “If for whatever reason the Barrow administration decides to not work with us or make good use of this opportunity of not expecting aid from our allies, we will still continue to build this organization (if someone close a door on us, we will simply turn around and look for another door) for The Gambian people and future administrations as we are dedicated and determined to teach our children/upcoming generations how to be independent, work as a team, support each other and develop the country, where we will attract other countries to use our methods too.”
