By: Hadram Hydara
The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has over the weekend instructed the commission to consider the acute need to “enhance the ongoing Defence and Security Sector Reform (DSSR) efforts and the implementation of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC)” in the Gambia at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the regional bloc held on Sunday, July 9, in Bissau, Guinea.
The TRRC was set up to investigate gross human rights violations and abuses committed under former President Yahya Jammeh’s regime, and Gambia’s president, Adama Barrow, pledged to implement the commission’s recommendations, but political observers have since questioned his resolve to do so.
The TRRC, in its final report, made 265 recommendations on prosecutions, reparations, reconciliation, and reforms.
Meanwhile, in May 2022, the government released its White Paper rejecting 2 out of the commission’s 265 recommendations, leaving the rest earmarked for implementation.
Although the government at the time said it lacked the financial resources to implement the recommendation, it has since released an implementation plan on May 12 and announced that the European Union (EU) has committed 9 million euros to the process.
