The 20th Gambian contingent dubbed GAMCOY 20 heading to the Sudanese region of Darfur for peace keeping mission, Wednesday March 1, bade farewell at a ceremony held at the July 22nd Square in Banjul.
The Contingent bade farewell to the Minister of Women Affairs and overseer of the portfolio of the Office of the Vice President Madam Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang.
The 208 personnel including 12 male, and 19 female soldiers under the command of Colonel Musa Trawally are heading to the Sudanese troubled region of Darfur on humanitarian and peace support mission.
The responsibilities of the Gambian contingent will include the securing of the Mission Headquarters in El-Fasher and the provision of escort duties to UNIMID High Command and visiting VIPs. Other aspects include providing the enabling environment for humanitarian support to the people Darfur, on issues such as the resettlement of Internally Displaced People (IDP) and protection of civilian population from all forms of violence.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice President Tambajang told members of the Gambian contingent to be role models and maintain the good image of the country during their tour of duty in Sudan. She said President Barrow admires people in uniform and that he will continue to support them taking into account that they are in the front-line in the maintenance of peace and stability.
“You are selected not based on merits but base on services to the nation and your exemplary characters. You are going to be our ambassadors, ambassador not only for the Gambia but as African ambassador,” VP Jallow-Tambajang added.
Peace she said is a challenging word and must be guided by the religion that you believe, saying humanitarian from the United Nations definition is serving somebody who did not have the privilege to peace, privilege to his livelihood and who have no privilege to stability.
“Your mission is a mission that you should respect, thus, it is significant you respect the communities that you are going to serve. When you serving a nation, you must be guided by their culture that way you will be easily integrated into their community, the society and finally you will be qualified to be ambassadors of The Gambia” she concluded.
Masanneh Kinteh, the new Chief of Defense Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces said it is a pride seeing the contingent leaving for a humanitarian and peace support mission which would strengthen the tremendous successes that The Gambia has registered in Darfur over the years.
“Peace is one of the deepest desires of mankind. It has remained one of the basic yet elusive yearnings of human race. The conditions that threaten peace and security are increasing daily, thus, making it necessary to evolve new techniques and capacity that will transform them. Therefore, adequate training, logistics support and international partnership in peacekeeping operation with increasingly more complex UN Mandate is required to curb the threats that have over time, changing dynamics with irregular opponents” he said.
CDS Kinteh thanked the Commandant of the Gambia Armed Forces Training School and his team for the quality training provided to the troops and the British Armed Forces through the British Ambassador and the Defense Attaché accredited to The Gambia for the facilities of the pre-deployment training through the Royal Gilbraltar Regiment.
He said the contribution of the Gambia Armed Forces to peacekeeping missions worldwide has grown significantly in recent years. He said The Gambia has been steadfast in its commitment to help keep the peace in the region, and has stood by Darfur throughout this conflict period to restore their hopes and dignity.
He advised his men and women to stay focus, alert and fit at all times and execute their tasks in a highly professional manner.
Charity for Daba Marena
Today, for the first time in 10 years the family of the late Daba Marenah is observing a vigil for their husband, father and grandfather following his murder by Yaya Jammeh in 2006. Family members, neighbors and friends of Marenah Kunda are reciting the Holy Quran in a solemn charity in London Corner for the departed soul who was murdered along with four other security officers following the 21 March 2006 alleged coup. The other four victims were Lt. Ebou Lowe, 2nd Lt. Alieu Ceesay, WO2 Alpha Bah and Staff Sergeant Manlafi Corr.
The regime of Yaya Jammeh falsely claimed that these five security officers escaped while being transported to Janjanbureh prisons from Mile 2. The government said the vehicle in which they were transported summersaulted leading to the escape. Yet the government never said whether anyone was injured or killed when the heavily armed vehicle collapsed. No pictures of the vehicle were shown and the government never announced the names of those who were guarding them. How could a man shackled on both hands and legs survive a high-speeding summersaulting vehicle?
Since this incident, none of these five officers ever contacted their families, and the government never launched any search for them. Consequently the families of the victims could never acknowledge that indeed their loved ones were dead for fear of their own lives during the dictatorship. Since Yaya Jammeh left the shores of the Gambia on January 21, still Daba Marenah never contacted his family. This therefore clearly indicates that Yahya Jammeh murdered the man and his fellow officers in a typical dictator style.
Today Daba’s wives and children and other relatives have the courage to formally acknowledge the death of their loved one. Can anything be more painful than this; to have your father murdered in your own country by your own government yet you are afraid to accept that fact? How can a human being be so callous that you can kill a husband and a father yet deny the wife and children of that father and husband to pay their respects to their loved one? This is what Yahya Jammeh and APRC meant to Gambians.
Yet in this Gambia, you still have fellow Gambians who support and pay allegiance to Yaya Jammeh and the APRC. How could any human being with conscience support such a person and party? How would one feel if Daba Marenah, Ebou Lowe, Alieu Ceesay, Alpha Bah and Manlafi Corr were your father, husband or brother? Can you still support the man and the organization that killed them? Yet Fabakary Tombong Jatta, Suku Singhateh, Abdoulie Bojang and Abdoulie Saine continue to associate themselves with such murderous political organization? How can any Gambian support APRC and Yaya Jammeh?
Just as the APRC killed Daba Marenah and Co so also did the AFPRC killed Koro Ceesay by burning him in his own car and claiming it was an accident. It was in the same way Deyda Hydara was shot dead at close range in the middle of town. This was the way Idi Amin or Saddam Hussein or Mobutu used to eliminate their citizens. It is the same way that Yaya Jammeh and AFPRC and APRC eliminated Gambians. Yet there are still Gambians who continue to stand with Yaya Jammeh and APRC.
When will the Government of Adama Barrow establish a Truth and Justice Commission to unearth the truth about these atrocities? Mothers are crying. Fathers are crying. Sons and daughters are crying. People have been crying for years because their loved ones have been brutally tortured, raped and killed by the AFPRC/APRC under Yaya Jammeh. These torturers. rapists and killers are roaming the streets of Banjul and Serre Kunda. When shall justice flow like a mighty river?
I wonder which Gambian citizen would vote for an APRC candidate in this coming National Assembly election. In fact which Gambian citizen would lack conscience so much as to stand for APRC. Voting or standing for APRC soaks your hands with blood. Voting or standing for APRC means you are an accomplice in the murder of Daba Marenah, Koro Ceesay, Deyda Hydara, Solo Sandeng and the numerous murdered victims. Voting or standing for APRC means your are mocking those Gambian women who were beaten and raped. Voting or standing for APRC means you are telling the mothers and fathers of the Massacred Children of April 10 and 11 that you do not care about their children. How could a fellow Gambian do that? Time will tell.
May the gentle souls rest in perfect peace. Amen.
God Bless The Gambia.