The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), Lieutenant General Yakuba A Drammeh on Tuesday 05 January 2021 paid a surprise visit to the various office at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Banjul along Marina Parade. The DHQ hosts the Office of the CDS, Deputy CDS, Directors as well as several other administrative offices of the GAF at No. 3 Marina P
arade in Banjul. The aim of the visit, according to the CDS is to express appreciation to the Directors, Principal Staff Officers, Officers, Soldiers and ratings for their tremendous support to his office and dedication to duty during the year under review. The places that were visited included, amongst others, offices of the various Directors, Staf
f Officers, Guards, Drivers and the cooks at the DHQ.
While exhorting all to rededicate themselves to the task of nation building by being focused, disciplined and loyal to The Gambia and her people, General Drammeh took pains to walk into each and every office at the DHQ to equally convey New Year’s greetings and best wishes. He used the visit to
once again reiterate his End of Year Message to Troops and emphasized on the need to work as a family in maintaining peace and security in The Gambia as well as enhancing cordial Civil-Military-Media relations.
The CDS expressed hope and optimism for GAF in 2021 in terms of welfare and development citing the outcome of the successful conduct of his tour and the recently concluded Advance Advisory Visit which was aimed at assessing the capability of GAF to deploy a Quick Reaction Forces (QRF) to a United Nation mission. He concluded by assuring officers and personnel of his disposition and readiness to work with everyone without discrimination as he has an open-door policy to all.
In a similar vein, during a brief interaction with personnel of the GAF Information Management System which houses the GAF Website, General Drammeh commended the staff for managing the GAF social media platforms such as the website, Facebook and other social media platforms. He noted, with gratification that these platforms have helped rebrand the image of the Armed Forces and also changed the narrative about GAF in the eyes of the public in terms of its professionalism and conduct since the dawn of the new political dispensation. He urged them to redouble their efforts and come up with more robust and effective communication and messaging strategies in the years ahead.
The CDS was commended and praised by all his staff for the surprise visit while thanking him for his leadership style since assuming the mantle of leadership of the Gambia Armed Forces in March 2020. They equally assured General Drammeh of their readiness to support him so that he could achieve his vision of an Armed Forces that is the Peoples’ Armed Forces working toward meeting the wishes and aspiration of the Gambian people.
The Chief of Defence Staff was accompanied on this visit by his support staff such as the Director of Press and Public Relations and also Military Assistant to the CDS, Major Lamin K Sanyang as well as the Aide-de-Camp to the CDS, Captain Momodou S Bah.
Left to Right Office of the Director of Training and Doctrine, Finance, Staff Officers and Office Orderlies.
