In his contemporary Analysis of The Military as a Distinct Ethnic or Quasi –Ethnic Identity in Developing Countries, Daniel Zirker and Constantine P. Danapoulos argued that the military has over the years become a source of divisions and instability within the developing world as it seeks to protect the privileged position of a particular group or groups to the disadvantage of others. By recognizing and understanding the dynamics of military involvement in the politics of West Africa alone, not to mention Latin America, one could satisfactorily conclude that the sub-regions violent political instability in the last decade was largely a result of military involvement in to the political affairs of the nation.

Taking a closer look at the violent political ruptures of Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Ivory –Coast, Guinea-Bissau and most recently Guinea-Conakry, military involvement in to politics has  largely been the driving force behind the intermittent violence that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Sadly all West African violent ridden nations followed similar paradigm shifts and trajectories.

Considering experiences of the sub-region, the most recent shake up across the architecture of the Gambian armed forces brought to light compelling dangers, implications and threats, thus raising several concerns. Whilst some members of the armed forces may benefit from the thunderbolt that has shaken the military command structure, the overall situation may be far from the reality as argued by pundits and analysts. The reasoning by several security analysts for example, is based on similar regional thunderbolts that followed the collapse of the political science axiom marking the end of the cold war period. Notable examples in the region include the Civil Wars of Liberia and Sierra-Leone.

 Whether the Gambian Military would add similar political parallels to its legacy remains to be seen. What is however certain is that, the Gambian Armed Forces have earned an extra-ordinary reputation for taking a forefront of major peace-keeping missions of the sub-region and the continent in general. Hopefully concrete lessons are drawn from those peace-keeping missions.

The axed Army Chief, General Lang Tombong Tamba and other dismissed top ranking officers, and all other members of the Armed Forces are all honorable men and women. I am sure that both President Jammeh, and the dismissed Army Chiefs, and the fine men and women of the Armed Forces are cognizant of the dangers, implications and challenges of military involvement in to politics.

In view of the aforementioned analysis, President Jammeh must exercise Caution, Mercy, and Restraint as the commander- in-chief. His actions and policy towards the Armed Forces must be more of a unifying, than a divisive mechanism.  The opportunities to do so are available. Hopefully the President will use his knowledge of the background of the dismissed army chiefs to ease the impending fear griping the nation, drop all impending charges, and put the disgraced senior officers back to work – if not the military, they could work at other public institutions.  That is to the best interest of miniscule Gambia, and more importantly, because the “Army is a nation within a nation.” A disengagement of the military from politics is what The Gambia and the sub-region badly needs. What else could one say?

By Former Lieutenant Binneh s Minteh, Newark, New Jersey

The author is an Independent Researcher Analyst and Consultant. He could be reached by email at bsm235@nyu.edu