By Lamin Njie
Former foreign minister Ousainou Darboe has insisted the foreign service is not a dumping ground for officials that are no longer wanted by the government.
The foreign service has over the years suffered, serving as a convenient route to push out unwanted officials. Officials would be neatly sacked from their role in the form of ‘relieved’ and would be quickly deposited in the foreign service.
Last week, President Adama Barrow removed Muhammed Manjang as managing director of Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation. He was ‘redeployed’ to the Senegalo-Gambia permanent secretariat.
Another official that was ‘redeployed’ to the foreign service is longtime civil servant Alhagie Nyangado.
And former foreign minister Ousainou Darboe reacting to the events said on Monday: “I want to underscore the fact that the foreign service should not be used as a dumping ground. When people are unwanted in other departments, in other ministries, they are dumped into the foreign service.
“The foreign service is not a dumping ground. It’s a very specialised ministry. After all, today, diplomacy is the order of the day and you cannot just bring every Tom, Dick and Harry to the foreign service because you don’t want them in other institutions, and you dump them in the foreign service.”
