Africa-Press – Gambia. Following a series of embarrassing incidents involving Gambian diplomats leading to expulsions and recalling, a phenomenon many blamed on political appointees at Gambian embassies around the world, Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara on Friday admitted that some political appointees indeed become stumbling blocks.
“I am not against political appointments at diplomatic missions but “unfortunately some of them go there and think they are entitled and become stumbling blocks at our embassies”, Tangara lamented at Friday’s Mansa Kunda at the SDKJCC.
Recalling how Gambian diplomats brought embarrassment to the country, Tangara referenced a fight between an ambassador and a protocol officer and another incident involving a diplomat who was asked to leave a diplomatic conference table because of the way he was dressed.
“In fact, one of these cases was mentioned as a case study in a certain diplomatic school in Malta in the presence of a Gambian who felt humiliated in the class about it,” the foreign minister said.
According to him, countries like India and United Arab Emirates recruit diplomats from the civil service only after candidates have passed an exam to get into the Foreign Service or given additional training.
“Unfortunately, here we do not recruit directly as a ministry, People are recruited through the PMO and are posted to the Foreign Ministry, with some of them political appointees. But when one is appointed based on the discretion of the head of state (president) one should make sure to be worth the trust. In diplomacy, the way you talk, the way you dress is very important,” he said.
Tangara said in addition to the incident where a Gambian diplomat was asked to leave the table because of the way he dressed, he also attended a joint commission where a Gambian delegate made a comment in the elevator, which, if said in the hall, ‘would have caused all of us to be kicked out of that hall.’
“A diplomat should be knowledgeable, know how to comport oneself. That is why in some countries even if you are qualified your character too is investigated to gauge whether you can be trusted. These are things that we need to work on seriously because we have faced some embarrassing situations to a point where we are mentioned as a bad study case in some diplomatic schools,” Tangara added,
However according to Minister Tangara, the president has now taken a “very firm stance” that anyone involved in that kind of incident would be recalled and removed from the diplomatic field.
“The president is very clear about it and even if we suspect cases we will investigate and recall people because we don’t want to face any such kind of embarrassment. Countries mirror Gambia through our diplomats. So when you are having the flag of The Gambia you should raise it high but not doing things that are really not in line with diplomatic ethics. So, I think the solution is to have a robust diplomatic cadre, people selected from the civil service, sit for an examination and we take the best and the brightest,” the minister recommended.
He said unethical behaviours rarely happen to well-trained diplomats.
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