Gambia Seeks Approval to Send Troops to Bissau

The Gambia’s intention to send troops to Mali and Guinea Bissau is now laid bare as the National Assembly is today scheduled to consider the deployment of troops.

In April this year, the sub-regional bloc, ECOWAS, authorised the deployment of regional troops to those two West African countries. This decision was prompted by widely condemned coups in Bissau and Mali.

Although reliable sources in the army have since hinted to The Daily News that plans were underway, and the selection process has begun, Gambian authorities have however closely guarded the details.

“It is premature to come out with any information,” the spokesperson of The Gambia Armed Forces, Captain Abdoulie Mboob, told this paper. “If you want to know whether The Gambia would send troops or not, go to the Office of the President.”

Meanwhile, National Assembly sources have it that Gambian Vice President, Isatou Njie-Saidy, would today seek approval from the legislature for the deployment of troops to both Mali and Bissau.

If approved, the Gambian contingent would join troops from Nigerian, Burkina Faso and Senegal, who have already arrived.

In Guinea Bissau, they would be part of a force of 629 men to support the restoration of constitutional rule.