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Momodou
Denmark
11633 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Jan 2011 : 15:10:32
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Dailynews Editorial: Senegal-Gambian Relations: The Outcome of Diplomatic Solution
Friday, January 07, 2011
Diplomatically, The Gambia has put the cart before the horse when the Secretary General and head of the civil service Dr. Njogu Bah read a statement on the national television, GRTS making reference to past incidents like the clash of Gambian fans and players with Senegalese. There should have been diplomatic solutions sought before such comments are aired out to the people. Seeking Diplomatic solutions is the best way to mend thwarting relations.
The border and language barriers between Senegal and The Gambia are merely a colonial legacy.
Senegal’s linking of The Gambia to the shipment of arms which were intercepted in Nigeria has provoked an undesirable counter accusation from the Gambian side and has raised many eye brows regarding the future relations of the two countries. The Gambia accused President Wade of telling Senegalese on their national television that the match against The Gambia is not a game but a war on The Gambia, an assertion which as far as our findings is concerned was not even made by Wade but the Senegalese international footballer El Hadji Diouf.
Now the two sisterly neighboring countries promising to move ahead with plans to revive the Senegalo-Gambian Permanent Secretariat by February 2011 despite a recent mêlée is a move in the right direction. This is the beauty of diplomacy.
Knowledge has shown that the process of diplomatics, dealing with the study of old documents, also owes its name to the above, but its present meaning is completely distinct from that of diplomacy.
Many Gambians have been asking whether the minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Tangara was in country when Dr. Njogu Bah was reading the statement on GRTS. It was felt that somebody had put his feet in the shoes of Foreign Affairs minister.
Being an art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states, international diplomacy as the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics, culture, environment and human rights should not have been disregarded.
Followers of developments in The Gambia may remember that a minister of Justice, Joseph Joof affected the expulsion of a British diplomat Bharat Joshi when the former minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Sidat Jobe was not in the country leading to his resignation.
International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by politicians of any country. It also involves the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage or to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, in which one of the significant methods is the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational manner.
It is significant that government functionaries be assigned according to their portfolios. The visit of Dr. Tangara to Senegal has proven this right with the outcome of the end of his visit which we believe is a by-product of diplomacy, giving birth to plans to revive the Senegal-Gambian Permanent Secretariat in February this year.
We are in an era which does not allow even countries with military might, economic giants to neglect the significance of diplomacy. Governments can only forge mutual friendships through diplomacy and not confrontational approaches. We hope that Gambia and Senegal will adhere to best practices and standards as sisterly countries that are unrivaled in terms of their mutual relations and good neighbourliness.
The most important of all is the quest for regional integration to chart a way for a United Africa which can only be achieved through mutual understanding between individual African countries.
Long Live Senegal-Gambian RelationsLong Live Africa!
Source: dailynews
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