APA-Dakar (Senegal) The new head of the Senegalese army was installed in his position on Tuesday will have to grapple with multiple security challenges.
Two weeks after his appointment, Lieutenant General Mbaye Cisse, 59, paraded in his new glittering regalias as Chief of the General Staff of the Senegalese Army (CEMGA).
During a ceremony held Tuesday at Camp Dial Diop in Dakar, the former Chief of Staff of President Macky Sall took command of the national army in front of a strong presence of military officers, diplomats and a government delegation led by the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sidiki Kaba, who welcomed the appointment of the new CEMGA as outstanding.
General Ciss promised in particular to devote all his energy to his mission to “give substance to the will of the Head of State to provide our country with an effective defense tool” capable of meeting “multifaceted security challenges,” such as jihadism, which has spread to much of neighbouring Mali.
“The geopolitical context in the Sahel places our states at the core of a diffuse conflict fed, on the one hand by the still visible stigma of the Covid-19, which has had a lasting impact on the economic and social conditions of our country, thus reviving social tensions, and on the other hand by the upheavals caused by the ongoing
Russian-Ukrainian war, heralding a world in the making with still uncertain contours,” the former director of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Defense and Security (CHEDS) in Dakar recalled.
Island of peace in a sea of trouble
In this “sub-regional turmoil,” said the military officer who graduated from the National School for Active Officers (ENOA) in Thies in 1990, Senegal remains “an island of peace and stability” while a “promising peace” is emerging in the south of the country after four decades of fighting between the separatist rebels of the Movement of
Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) and the Senegalese army.
It is also in this context that Senegal is preparing “to join the coveted ranks” of oil and gas producing nations.
“This observation requires us to redouble our efforts and vigilance to preserve the conditions of stability necessary for the legitimate pursuit of our development projects,” Mbaye Cisse said, promising to work for the
“consolidation of an army that is ready for use through its organisation and its sense of anticipation.”
“I intend to carry out the will of the highest authorities to give a qualitative transformation to our armies through research and the cult of performance in key areas covering operations, logistics, human resources, military condition and especially the values that underpin our ethos of soldier,” said the officer who, according to the Ministerof the Armed Forces, is “familiar” with “operational engagement areas” and “very early on”..
Cisse distinguished himself in peacekeeping operations through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Force, notably in Liberia, a country that experienced a civil war between 1990 and 2003.
Enter Fatou Fall, Senegal’s first female army general
By “renewing his confidence” to him, the Senegalese leader “recognised” in General Cisse “the competence, human and professional qualities required to continue to make the armies this resilient and efficient tool,” Sidiki Kaba added, insisting on the discipline of the troops to counter unpredictable threats.
“We must be ready, that is to say, anticipate and be able to act. For this we must have educated, trained, well commanded and disciplined human resources. It is this requirement that presided over the strategic choice of the head of state to create training schools in all corps of the armed forces with the creation of the Defense
Institute of Senegal, a crucible of higher military training including a staff school, a higher school of war and a documentation center,” the former Minister of Justice said.
Sidiki Kaba chose this occasion to inform the gathering of a “historic decision” taken on Monday, April 24 by the president to appoint Brigadier General Doctor Colonel Fatou Fall, who officiates at the main military hospital in Dakar.
“This is the first time since independence in 1960 that a woman has been appointed to the rank of General” in
Senegal, he said.
ODL/ac/fss/as/APA