The deputy chief of Defence Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces, Major General Ousman Badjie, Thursday debriefed 196 men and women of the Gambian contingent 12 who recently returned from Darfur (GAMCOY 12).  The debriefing exercise was held at 1 Infantry Battalion at Yundum Barracks.

Speaking at the debriefing exercise, Major General Ousman Badjie,  said that the GAMCOY 12 mission to Darfur was successful as Gambian soldiers are professional in the field of operations. “You have gone to Darfur as United Nations peacekeepers. You excelled to the maximum level and you have carried the Gambian flag high and that is a step in the right direction,” he remarked.

According to the deputy CDS, the Gambia Armed Forces did not receive any report of any misconduct from GAMCOY 12, noting that all they received from the day they left The Gambia for Sudan is comments on their high sense of professionalism, high sense of duty, responsibility and a performance of any task that they had been assigned to do in Darfur.  “We cherished the collaboration you had with the civilian population in Darfur. Of course you were there to serve as peacekeepers on humanitarian grounds but your relationship with the people of Darfur is evident in the various medals and the trophy you won,” deputy CDS Badjie stated.

He assured members of GAMCOY 12 that they will receive all their allowances and their gate passes for their one-week vacation, which will commence on Monday. He stated that the one-week vacation is within the country, adding that if anyone takes the risk and travel outside the country, if anything happens, he or she will be responsible and not GAF. The deputy CDS also advised the military personnel to spend their money wisely, adding that this might be the last chance for some of them to travel for such missions though it may not be the last chance for some of them.  

Lt. Colonel Musa Savage, commander of the GAMCOY 12 contingent, noted that it was not easy but with the cooperation of the members of the contingent, and the support of the leadership of GAF from the commander-in-chief, H.E Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh to the chief of Defence Staff, they were able to excel in Darfur.

Lt. Colonel Savage revealed that The Gambia is among the pioneering troops contributing a lot in Darfur since 2004 and that, the Gambia Armed Forces has been constantly rotating its troops every six months since then. “I believe we performed extremely well. We provided security for the number one personality in the mission area. We also provided security for the headquarters of the mission area in Al-Fasha,” Lt Colonel Savage further revealed.

He said he believes that they are also part of history in bringing peace to Darfur and one important aspect that GAMCOY 12 witnessed during their seven months tour of duty is the signing of the Peace Agreement between Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) on 14th July 2011 in Doha.  He stated that that signing agreement is a step in the right direction.  “We don’t only bring the peace by using the gun, GAMCOY 12 also organised sporting events that is coordinated by the Mission Welfare Section and it is what we called Civil-Military Cooperation,” Lt. Colonel Savage noted.