The Gambian leader has been strong and played a critical role in moving forward concretely what can be done in Guinea Bissau and Mali crises and the United States of America does appreciate his wisdom and his own experience in this region, says the US ambassador to The Gambia.

Pamela Ann White was speaking Tuesday at State House in Banjul during a brief interview with reporters at the end of a marathon closed-door meeting with His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh.

Ambassador White’s comments are coming a few weeks after President Jammeh received a similar commendation from the Ecowas Commission chief, who praised him for what he called “his true sense of solidarity towards an Ecowas member state” after he led the April 29 sub-regional bloc’s negotiation in Banjul; one that paved the way for normalcy and constitutional order to be restored in that coup-prone former Portuguese colony.

“We had a long interesting conversation; the president is always very well informed about international affairs and of course domestic affairs. We talked a little about his very key pivotal role he has been playing in the Guinea Bissau, Mali problems; he has been a voice of recent at all the meetings,” Ambassador White told State House press corps.

Support for food situation

The US chief diplomat to The Gambia also harped on the current food situation in the country, which she said was also covered in their closed-door discussion.

She explains: “Also we hope to do some work in the country with the food security situation and I explained to him [the president] a little bit about what we hope to do. We will start with US$50, 000 and we are going to work through Peace Corps to reach the most vulnerable villages. We want to make sure that this season people have some nutritious food to eat.”