Lawyer Darboe decries security sector reform stagnation

By Sainey Darboe:

The leader of the United Democratic Party, Hon. Ousainou Darboe, has expressed displeasure with the pace of security sector reform.

Hon. Ousainou Darboe: Gambia's Security Sector Reform not going at a rapid enough pace given the security challenges of the country.

Speaking in an interview with Sheriff Bojang Junior of The Chronicle over the weekend, 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”.

Hon. Ousainou Darboe served as Foreign Minister and then Vice President 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’.