By Mustapha Jallow
The two-day security sector reform retreat for heads of security institutions and senior public servants has concluded Wednesday, at Kairaba Beach Hotel.
This was aimed to provide the opportunity and platform for the team to look into critical issues surrounding the security sector reform in the country.
In his closing remarks, the National Security Adviser Momodou Badjie said: “We’ve had a very enriching debate and discussion on where we want to take our security sector reform process. We’ve all agreed that increasing the frequency of meetings, especially at the level of the heads of institutions and the respective interactions with members of the international advisory group will help in this matter.”
During the past two days, he said, they have accepted challenges and shortcomings in moving towards their corroboration at another level. He said that the clear idea that came out in the course of this retreat was how much deficit they have in their SSR, especially items of ownership and coordination.
He said that this would be a critical factor for a successful reform and without which none of the achievements of the national development plan will be considered successful. He added that external and internal challenges militate against prospects of peace and security.
According to him the security sector reform is in process as there have been common threats which commanded the conscience of everyone; that they need a strong security sector reform in The Gambia within the government and security institutions.
He noted that certain requirements should be met to enable them strengthen their institutions, such as building human capacity and getting the newly established office of the national security operational.
“We also highlighted the need to address our peace and security challenges in a comprehensive and holistic manner so that the security sector reform can go currently with the internal security challenges that the country is currently facing,” he emphasised.
