Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Is Gambia accusing US of complicity in the "terror attack"?

Gambia's Foreign Minister with President Obama
Gambia's newly appointed Foreign Minister, Neneh McDouall-Gaye, claimed on state-controlled national television GRTS that the code name given to the Gambian dictator by those accused of attacking State House was the same code name given to him during his last August visit to Washington DC to attend the U.S - Africa Summit.

American Secret Service code names given to visiting Heads of State and other visiting dignitaries as guests of the United States government are supposed to be known only to the "principal" i.e. the dignitary, in this case, Yaya Jammeh, and to him alone.  The code name is not even known to Jammeh's personal security detail.  It would, therefore, be a serious breach of security protocol should anyone else has access to the code name.

According to the new Foreign Minister, who was appointed barely a couple of days ago, the code name given to Yaya Jammeh was "Chuck"  by the attackers which was the same name given to him when he visited Washington.  Who could have passed on the code name "Chuck" to the attackers? Is Jammeh trying to implicate the U.S. government?  Is the new Foreign Minister aware of the seriousness of the claim she was asked to read without a clue of the implications?

It is important to note, at this point, that the Foreign Minister was, until last week, a refugee from the very government she's now serving.  She is also a living testimony to a recently-mounted 'reconciliation' effort to recruit diaspora Gambians to bolster an administration that has been depleted of qualified and experienced personnel.

Ironically, the depletion is a result of qualified Gambians fleeing or being exiled by the same Jammeh who is now enticing his victims with ministerial positions.  The recruitment effort is being directed from the Washington Embassy.