On the entrance to the Gambian capital Banjul, a simple but colourful billboard shows a soldier handing a national flag to a government official with an inscription about the army surrendering loyalty to the civilian state.
Ubiquitous hoardings aimed at brushing up the otherwise blemished image of the army as a responsible institution are a common sight in and around The Gambia where most people don’t hold charitable views about the military thanks in large part to their apparent role in two decades of supposed human rights abuses under Yahya Jammeh.
Steeped in the process of a damage-limitation exercise the military likes to be seen as an institution turning over a new leaf from the dark old ways of the past when its members ostensibly committed varying forms of brutality against their own kind and civilians if testimonies from the country’s truth commission are anything to go by.
But recent reports of the theft of food earmarked as emergency relief aid to Covid-19 wary local communities, pilfering of coupons at the army headquarters in Banjul and other untoward behavours in which civilians were said to have been at the receiving end, suggest just how big the institution’s image-making campaign challenge is.
Two Gambia Armed Forces personnel have been arrested by the military police after being fingered in the pilfering of 27 bags of rice as they were being transported to a rural community in a bid to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Although the stolen food aid has since been recovered, according to army Spokesman Major Lamin Sanyang, the two unnamed soldiers accused of the theft are being investigated and will be punished should a credible case be established against them.
It is the latest in a string of allegations levelled against personnel of the army suggesting ill-discipline or bad behaviour by those who are no apologists for the military and want it disbanded.
A month ago, a break-in at the army’s headquarters in Banjul saw fuel coupons worth over D300, 000 missing with personnel of the military suspected of making away with the loot.
Weeks ago, an incident involving an alleged soldier wearing an army uniform on a speeding motorbike and an elderly pedestrian crossing a busy intersection caused widespread public outcry.
The “soldier” had refused to stop even after hitting the man as he sped in the direction of the capital Banjul with onlookers calling on him to show concern for the visibly distraught pedestrian.
Since the departure into exile of former president Jammeh, it has been difficult to shake off their blighted reputation as an institution harbouring undisciplined, trigger-happy elements who abused civilians wily nily.
Three years on from his election defeat to successor Adama Barrow, public perception of the army remains unfavourable.
Private citizen Malick Mbye holds a typical view of what to do with an institution whose role as ‘bystander’ during the 2016 election dispute did not inspire confidence from many Gambians.
“Left to me alone, the army would have been disbanded and funds meant to maintain it diverted to other vital sectors of national life” Mbye says.
He believes if would take a superhuman effort for the Gambian army to redeem itself in the public eye as more and more of its personnel act in ways that attract bad press and put their institution to disrepute.
WN/as/APA