Traditionally, the main role of Armed Forces around the world is the protection of national sovereignty by keeping borders and people safe. Overtime however, their roles were expanded and adapted to suit the specific security and geopolitical situations of the respective countries as well as to suit other needs and aspirations.
In most advanced countries, the roles of militaries have been expanded to include national development functions such as engineering, agriculture and other infrastructural development activities; assistance in cases of natural disasters; foreign relation engagements; international peacekeeping; domination of the high seas through navies; and control of international airspaces through satellites and air forces among other roles.
In Africa however, a different situation arises. Following the attainment of independence, most African countries were faced with internal conflicts or civil wars. Countries going to war against each other ‘in defence of territorial sovereignty’ was mitigated largely due to the fact that the artificial borders that were imposed on the continent were generally accepted as sacrosanct. In response to these internal threats to ‘national security’, African leaders also adapted the roles of their security services away from protection of borders and territorial sovereignty and used them for the protection of the State/governing elites against the citizens/groups they regarded as threats to their governments.
There is however one common similarity among all militaries of the world (be it the British, Chinese, Syrian or Gambian Armed Forces) which is they all follow a similar chain of command and are generally under the command and control of their respective governments to whom they owe unconditional loyalty and obedience. It is just like the relationship between a man and his horse. Although once in a while the horse may disappoint his master (like Jammeh did to Jawara in 1994), soldiers are generally subservient to their political leaders.
It is based on this relationship that George W. Bush and Tony Blair sent their militaries to Iraq to unjustifiably topple Saddam Hussein. This is also why when Barrack Obama clicked his fingers, the mighty US Army came running back to their bases at home. And believe it or not if Donald Trump becomes President, the US Army will be right back in the Middle East to “bomb the hell out of ISIS”.
It is also based on this unconditional loyalty and obedience that the Israeli Defence Forces are occupying Palestinian lands and while no amount of UN Resolutions or global condemnations will make them to move an inch, a single order from Netanyahu will get them back to Jerusalem. It is this same obedience to the chain of command that is why 33 year old Kim Jon-un of North Korea is able to control hundreds of Generals who are older than his grandfather; it is why the Burundian Army is standing by Nkurunziza; it is why the Syrian Army is with Assad, it is why the Ugandan Defence Forces are protecting Museveni; it is why the Zimbabwean military are still serving the nonagenarian Mugabe. It is also precisely the same reason why the Gambian Army is behind Jammeh.
As for those calling/praying for the soldiers to over throw Jammeh, I just cannot comprehend their logic. Do they expect General X to risk his life to remove Jammeh and then hand over power to Civilian Y? Soldiers do not do coup d’états for civilians; they do it for themselves. In my opinion, the best way forward to a Third Republic of the Gambia is through free, fair and peaceful elections and not through any violent means.
And for those saying that The Gambian military is worthless and should be disbanded, history tells us that there is not a single African country that has abolished her military since independence and Gambia is not going to be the first. I do hope and pray that the Third Republic will usher in a government that is filled with compassion, wisdom, competence, and knowledge to lead our country on the path of peace, security, cooperation, unity and development.
And I further hope that such a government will realize that the Gambia Armed and Security Services are not a liability but rather a national goldmine well juxtaposed to be the government’s number one partner in national development. The reason for my claim is not farfetched: our security services are composed of thousands and thousands of young, healthy, able-bodied, intelligent, patriotic, loyal and obedient men and women who are able, willing and eager to generate revenue, build infrastructure, play leading roles in international sports and to participate in science, technology, research and innovation in addition to their tradition roles of territorial defence and national security.
In my opinion, simple initiatives such as expanding our peacekeeping capacities to two or three Military Battalions and Formed Police Units and developing/equipping the security support services such as the engineering, communications, agricultural, educational, IT and medical corps/departments/battalions will have tremendous advantages including the following:
Enhance the international image of the country
Generate tremendous amounts of revenue
Increase the experience and professionalism of the service personnel
Make every service personnel financially independent
Increase youth employment to mitigate the back way syndrome
Create post-service professional skills
Build a cordial civil-military relationship and
Keep security personnel so occupied and contented that they will have no incentive to involve in politics again.
However, if we have as a the President of the Third Republic a Serrer who prefers to use the security services for fishing, be rest assured that The Gambia will be a leading fish exporter; if s/he is a Manjago who wants to make the Gambia a palm wine exporting nation, the security personnel can make it happen; and if s/he is a Sarahullay who wants to transform the Islamic State into a Chura State, I am sure that the security personnel can make sure that no one cooks nyankatang in the Fonis.
Long live the Republic of The Gambia and Long live the Gambia Armed Forces.
Author Gano
Posted on March 12, 2016
Categories Uncategorized
