By Kebba Jeffang Lieutenant Malick Sanyang, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) said the issue of media coverage of court martial is beyond him and that he has no instruction to let the media in.“I don’t make decisions and I have senior men who decide on matters and not me. Had I been instructed to do it, I would have done so since,” he said. The GAF spokesperson said this on Tuesday, 24th March, 2015 at the Fajara Barracks, when responding to the issue raised by this reporter concerning the lack of access to cover the court martial of some members of the security forces who are alleged to be involved in the 30 December 2014 insurgency and which is said to be ongoing. It could be recalled that this medium has been making several attempts to cover the proceedings of the court martial but without success. This reporter has been told, on many occasions, by the soldiers he found at the gates of both the Fajara Barracks and former officers’ mess, that they have not received an order from the GAF PRO to allow the media in. Foroyaa wrote a letter to GAF Headquarters in Banjul citing the provisions of both the Constitution and Armed Forces Act that allowed for media access and coverage of the court martial. With the many follow-ups made by this reporter on the letter, it was first gathered that the PRO was indisposed after his arrival from a trip to Mali. It was also said that the PRO could not give any assurance to the media regarding coverage until instruction is given by the superiors.]]>
