An interim task force committee has been established to administer the affairs of The Gambia Scouts Association (GSA) for a period of six weeks after a protracted leadership struggle among members of the association, which led to the dissolving of both the National Scouts Council and the interim executive committee of The Gambia Scouts Association by the Ministry of Youth and Sports that made a recommendation to the Office of The President for the association to be dissolved while a new task force committee takes over.

The power struggle that was going on since 2002 sparked a wave of indifference in the association. The minister of Interior, Ousman Sonko, who is currently overseeing the Ministry of Youth and Sports, presided over the launching of the interim task force committee yesterday, at the conference room of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture at the Quadrangle in Banjul. However, hopes are high on the side of the interim committee that at the end of the six weeks, they would be able to tackle all the indifferences among members of the association and subsequently a congress will be held for the association to come back to its lost glory.

In his official launching statement, Minister Sonko explained that the Ministry of Youth and Sports took drastic measures to effect the dissolving of the scout association due to the prolonged leadership crisis in the scouts management. Scouting association, he said is a worldwide movement and The Gambia Scouts Association had been established by an Act of the Parliament as an organisation in 1984. Minister Sonko observed that scouting is an instrumental movement for both the youth and overall national development. Sonko further told the gathering that the Ministry of Youth and Sports immediately intervened to find a lasting and definitive solution to the problem because scouting involves young people.

He then expressed hope that the independent interim task force committee will effectively manage the election of a new and vibrant crop of leaders for the scout movement which he believes will diligently and tirelessly work hard to help bring back sanity into the movement. While commending the members of the task force committee for their willingness and positive response to the responsibility, Minister Sonko assured them of his office’s strong support and cooperation in carrying out their duties.

Sulayman Bun Njie, the chairman of the National Sports Council, who is also the chairman of the new interim task force committee vowed that they would do their best to put the Gambia Scouts Association in order within the prescribed time given to them, in accordance with the constitution of the association. The ceremony was chaired by Mambanjick  Njie, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports.