{"id":6341,"date":"2026-05-30T04:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/gambia-army-chief-resigns-amid-corruption-allegations"},"modified":"2026-05-31T05:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T05:08:26","slug":"gambia-army-chief-resigns-amid-corruption-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/gambia-army-chief-resigns-amid-corruption-allegations","title":{"rendered":"Gambia Army Chief Resigns Amid Corruption Allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>The Gambian presidency announced that President Adama Barrow accepted the resignation of the Army Chief, General Mamadou O. E. Cham, amid &#8220;numerous allegations of misconduct and abuse of office inconsistent with the responsibilities and status of the Chief of Defense Staff.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The presidency stated that Barrow accepted Cham&#8217;s resignation effective immediately, following the latter&#8217;s acknowledgment of the allegations related to misconduct and abuse of office.<\/p>\n<p>Cham clarified in his resignation letter dated May 29, 2026, that he decided to step down due to these allegations, assuring the president of his full readiness to cooperate with any potential investigations regarding them.<\/p>\n<p>President Barrow appointed Major General Osman Gomez as Acting Chief of Defense Staff effective from the date of acceptance of the resignation.<\/p>\n<p>The presidency confirmed that General Cham informed the president of his complete willingness to cooperate with any investigations that may be conducted regarding the allegations against him.<\/p>\n<p>The resigning Army Chief also expressed his gratitude to President Barrow for the trust placed in him throughout his tenure, which culminated in his appointment as the ninth Chief of Defense Staff in Gambia&#8217;s history.<\/p>\n<p>This is the first official statement from Cham since the controversy surrounding the allegations that have followed him in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The resignation came after weeks of debate within Gambia regarding &#8220;allegations&#8221; of corruption, misconduct, and abuse of office attributed to Sergeant Modou Sainy, who previously served as Cham&#8217;s personal assistant.<\/p>\n<p>According to local reports, Sainy was close to the Army Chief and undertook several personal and official tasks on his behalf before their relationship deteriorated.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequently, the former sergeant leveled a series of accusations against the Chief of Staff, sparking discussions in political and media circles and leading to increased scrutiny of military leadership performance.<\/p>\n<p>Gambian authorities have not yet disclosed details of the allegations or whether a formal investigation has begun; however, Cham&#8217;s reference in his resignation letter to &#8220;numerous allegations of misconduct and abuse of office&#8221; was considered the first official confirmation of the seriousness of the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Following the acceptance of the resignation, President Barrow appointed Major General Osman Gomez as Acting Chief of Defense Staff, a move aimed at ensuring continuity in military leadership and preventing a vacuum in the military institution&#8217;s hierarchy.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to his appointment, Gomez served as Deputy Chief of Defense Staff at the army headquarters in the capital, Banjul.<\/p>\n<p>The presidency confirmed that the appointment was made in accordance with the provisions of Article 190 of the constitution, which grants the president the authority to appoint senior military leaders.<\/p>\n<p>These developments come at a time when Gambia continues to reaffirm its commitment to principles of institutional reform and enhancing accountability and transparency within state institutions, including the security and military sectors, according to local media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Africa<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press. The Gambian presidency announced that President Adama Barrow accepted the resignation of the Army Chief, General Mamadou O. E. Cham, amid &#8220;numerous allegations of misconduct and abuse of office inconsistent with the responsibilities and status of the Chief of Defense Staff.&#8221; The presidency stated that Barrow accepted Cham&#8217;s resignation effective immediately, following the latter&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[120],"class_list":{"0":"post-6341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-policy","8":"tag-africa"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gambia Army Chief Resigns Amid Corruption Allegations - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press. 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