‘only the military can end the carnage in africa’

The delegation is on a weeklong study tour of The Gambia on the theme “enhancing African unity through socio-economic, cultural and military cooperation”. The Gambian leader said: “It is only African armed forces that can put an end to carnage in Africa. Unfortunately they fool us by dividing us along tribal lines; there is no single country on earth that is composed of one tribe. But if I tell CDS, go and attack a particular country; and he said, oh these are our brothers and sisters, even though you are the commander-in-chief, go and negotiate. So you have a role to play. They say you obey and complain, but after obeying and complaint; thousands of innocent people are dead.”

President Jammeh expressed with dismay the fact that it is only African children that are seen in permanent refugee camps; a situation he described as pathetic. “But our problem here is ignorance. If those children in refugee camps do not have any chance of going to school, what future do we have for Africa? Also what future do we have in Africa if children at the age of nine are taught to kill? Instead of going to school, they are taught to kill,” he lamented, while urging the armed forces to avoid such tragic situations.

He told them that as soldiers, they are responsible for maintaining peace and stability when law and order breaks down, while stressing the need for Africans to work together; and speak with one voice to guarantee development and unity. While reiterating that African unity cannot come from the top to down, but has to come from the grassroots, President Jammeh again emphasised that there cannot be any form of unity where the armed forces are excluded. He also stressed that Africa’s independence and development are sustainable only because of the continent’s armed forces.

He continued: “But unfortunately in Africa, the impression given is why do you need to spend so much on the army? But you look at them what they spend on defence alone is billions of dollars. But they look at you and say why would you spend so much on defence when people are starving? Yet no Gambian ever dies of starvation or no Gambian and even non-Gambian sleeps outside. Here we don’t have homeless people. “Today most African countries can be recolonised in a matter of seconds because they don’t have the requisite armed forces to defend their independence.” While emphasising that Africa is a resource-rich continent, the president decried the fact that most [African countries] are downplaying the importance of their armed forces by listening to them [the West].

“So your role is very important. The armed forces are one of the most important elements that guarantee independence, sustainable development, peace and stability,” he added. Powerful if united. President Jammeh again stressed the fact that Africa would be a very powerful and strong continent if it is united. He said this is the reason why most people do not want to see Africans united; instead, he said, they will rather divide and exploit Africans. He added: “In those days it used to be divide, rule and exploit; it is now divide, destroy and exploit because not only do they divide us, but also pit us against each other.” President Jammeh further lamented that Africans have been fighting since independence, and queried if Africans are fighting to enhance their independence or fighting to deepen their dependence. He opined that the latter is now the reality. “We fight on behalf of foreign forces that are hostile to us in the name of philosophies that do not exist. And eventually when we kill each other, they leave us alone going backwards,” he observed.

He further observed that the rest of mankind are building, whilst in Africa it is reconstruction; a status quo he decried as sad. He further stated: “We are the wealthiest continent in the whole world but in the real term we are the poorest. Today Africa is synonymous with abject poverty, disease, destitutions and so on despite we come from the wealthiest continent on earth in terms of natural resources. “There were two world wars but we know who was fighting who and why? They were fighting for more colonies. They went to war twice with devastating catastrophes; but each time they fought and destroy their areas; they took African and Asian resources to rebuild them. That was the 1st and the 2nd World Wars. And unfortunately for Africa, today they [who fought twice] are one and united. If you are refused a visa in one country, you will not enter in any of those countries.”

President Jammeh also decried the fact that even though those countries that fought two devastating wars are today united, here in Africa even to trade amongst ourselves is a problem. “They robbed us of our resources, our culture, our languages. But let us look at two parts of the world that were colonised; that attracted massive exploitation– that’s Africa and Asia. But today Asia is better off with fewer resources than Africa. This is because the Asians are united, they are independent minded; they have resuscitated their culture; they govern based on their cultural beliefs and so on. Unfortunately for Africa, this is not the case,” he said.

He concluded by thanking the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College for always opening up to The Gambia, and other sister staff colleges in the sub-region. The vice president and minister of Women’s Affairs, Her Excellency Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, the ministers of Justice and the Interior, Edward Gomez and Ousman Sonko respectively, all expressed similar sentiments, and hailed the study tour initiative in the country. The head of the delegation of the Study tour from the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Brigadier General Richard Kwame Opoku Adusei thanked the Gambian leader for what he described as a rare privilege. He explained that the aim of the visit, among other things, is to learn from The Gambia, exchange ideas and interact with their contemporaries and give back the report to college.

Brig. General Adusei disclosed that the theme for this year’s study tour is “enhancing African unity through socio-economic, cultural and military cooperation”. He stated that their political leaders have done very well by seeking socio-economic and political integration of the continent, and through this he added, several businessmen have taken opportunities to expand their businesses in the sub-region. “So it is therefore very pertinent that we as a military also pursue such cooperation,” he further stated, while praying for the good health and wellbeing of the president.

Other speakers at the occasion were the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Harry Sambou, and the chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) Lt. General Masanneh Kinteh.

SOURCE : DAILY OBSERVER