Six senior officers from 6 African countries have arrived into the country as part of African Union Technical Support Team to The Gambia. The team who are all military officers will be deployed to the Ministry of Defence, the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Defence Headquarters. The team will provide support in the areas of Defence Reform, Operations and Training, Policy Development and plans, Civil-Military Cooperation, Policy Development and Personnel Management and Administration. The staff officers are seconded from Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Uganda.
The team was accompanied to the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff Gambia Armed Forces by a 4 man delegation headed by Dr Alhaji Sarjoh Bah, Head of Crisis Management and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Division at the African Union Headquarters. In a brief meeting with the CDS on Wednesday 26 September 2018, the team expressed delight in the way and manner they have been received so far. They promised to be good ambassadors and they will do their best to support the reform agenda of the government. CDS in his part welcomed the team and expressed his support and that of the entire armed forces to the team. He informed the team that there is enormous work to be done and with support from the team he is optimistic that the Gambia Armed Forces will be more professional thereby serve the Gambian people better.
