The major objective of bringing about change in 2016 through a Coalition of Parties is to bring Constitutional and Institutional reforms.
Under the past regime Foroyaa used to give the nation a daily diet of arrests and detentions without trial and disappearances without trace; trials within trials used to provide evidence of torture and inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment.
Security sector reform is anticipated with the primary objective of transforming the security apparatus from being an instrument of coercion into an instrument of the protection of the rights of the citizenry. Hence, the NIA, the Police and all units engaged in the protection of the security of the nation are expected to be trained to conduct their work in accordance with constitutional provisions and international conventions. They must be made to abhor torture and detest any action aimed at degrading the human being.
There is no doubt that peace and stability in a nation is best safeguarded by having a security force that is in harmony with the citizenry. History has shown that security forces that are alienated from the citizenry cannot guarantee peace and stability; on the contrary, their actions would undermine the very integrity of states and transform them into objects of scorn. The new Gambia deserves a security force that is trained to put the love of country and people deep into their hearts so that they are seen as brothers and sisters by the citizenry.
