Gambia’s deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Samsudeen Sarr and protocol/welfare officer at the DC embassy, Pierre Minteh have both received their marching orders according to credible sources in Banjul. Both gentlemen were fired today, February 10, 2017.
Samsudeen was during the political impasse elevated to the position of the country’s Ambassador to the UN after his boss, Momodou Tangara alongside eleven other ambassadors was terminated by the then President Yahya Jammeh, for calling on the defiant losing Presidential election incumbent to hand over power to Adama Barrow, the legitimate winner of the December polls. After Jammeh’s booting from power thanks to the intervention of the ECOWAS forces, confusion reigned and for a time, no one knows who was in charge of the top UN Diplomat position. So when Samsudeen and all other diplomats were later asked to report back to work by the new Barrow administration, it generated anger among watchers and activists alike especially in light of Samsudeen’s (AKA Sam) antics and rages against those trying to liberate the West African country from the clutches of Jammeh’s dictatorship, but also understanding in other quarters since the move was viewed as a necessary step so as not to allow vacuums in these critical positions. Sarr was on contract until April when his term will expire.
Pierre was not only a staunch supporter of the former president, he was seen as an enforcer of the Dictator’s dirty dealings against Gambian activists in the U.S. He presented himself as an arch enemy of anyone who opposes the tyrant. He has had a lot of confrontations with dissidents protesting Jammeh excesses.
According observers, the firing of these two is expected to generate such excitement among Gambians not seen since the arrival of Barrow from Senegal where he was forced to take refuge during what was a very tense political situation created by Jammeh’s belligerence and recalcitrance.
