By Kaddy Jawo
The top brass of The Gambia National Army, on Tuesday, decorated twenty-five junior officers to the ranks of Captain and Lieutenant. The ceremony took place at the at the officer’s mess in Kotu.
The Chief of Defense Staff, Masanneh Kinteh, who blessed the ceremony said The Gambia Armed Forces can boast of a cream of officers and men who are engineers, lawyers, doctors, architects, professional accountants, etc.
“We promise to redouble our efforts in contributing towards the realization of the vision of the President and our Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Adama Barrow, for a rapidly evolving, motivated, apolitical and non-ethnically biased Armed Forces for the new Gambia.”
The Public Relation Officer (PRO) of The Gambia Army Forces, Lamin Sanyang, added that the decorated officers comprised of four junior officers who have been promoted from the rank of Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant; and twenty-one junior officers who have been elevated from the rank of Lieutenant to Captain and their equivalents—Navy Lieutenant for those from the Navy.
He said a total of 696 personnel of The Gambia Army Forces have been promoted to various ranks this year. Out of total number of those promoted, 70 were to officer ranks and 626 to other ranks.