By Sainey Darboe:
European Union ambassador to The Gambia, Attila Lajos,has offered a bleak assessment of the security sector reform process in the country, while indicting the presidency for “lack of guidance and communication”.
Mr. Lajos who was taking part in a forum on security sector reform was quoted in an article published by Freedom Newspaper.His words:
“What I see now is the unwillingness to prioritize areas within the security sector for fast-tracked reform. I see a situation worsened by the absence of guidance and communications from the highest level. The Executive must commit to a time-bound framework to deliver reform”.
Recently, the leader of the United Democratic Party, Ousainou Darboe expressed displeasure with the pace of security sector reform.
Speaking in an interview with Sheriff Bojang Junior of The Chronicle two weeks ago, Darboe assessed the process is not going at a rapid enough pace given the security challenges of the country.
“I was the chairman of the security sector reform committee when I was in government, but I can tell you I’m not impressed with the level of progress.I was the chairman of the committee and there were times I had to write letters to members about meetings.That’s how frustrated I was with the pace of change. There was foot-dragging. I attended Ecowas meetings and the authority was not happy with the pace of reform”.
Ousainou Darboe served as Foreign Minister and then Vice President under President Barrow’s coalition government following the defeat of Yahya Jammeh in December 2016 presidential elections.
He was fired as Vice President alongside other UDP members of the cabinet on March 15, 2019 in what was known as the ‘Friday Massacre’.
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