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By Hadram Hydara
Opposition party leader Mai Ahmad Fatty has strongly condemned an incursion by Senegalese troops at a border post, calling the demolition of a military perimeter fence an act of “coercion” and demanding that President Adama Barrow directly confront his Senegalese counterpart at an upcoming West African summit.
Fatty, the leader of the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC), issued the fierce rebuke on behalf of his party following the July 16 incident at the Bulock Military Border Post. While Senegal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sought to downplay the event, Fatty rejected Dakar’s explanations, stating that the unilateral destruction of a Gambian armed forces installation by a foreign military breached international law and bypassed all established bilateral channels.
“We reiterate this without ambiguity that what occurred at Bulock was not a technical misunderstanding,” Fatty said in a press statement on Saturday. “It was the deliberate, unilateral demolition of a perimeter installation of the Gambia Armed Forces, executed by a foreign military without notice, without consultation, and in flagrant disregard of every bilateral mechanism our two countries have spent decades constructing for precisely such circumstances.”
The GMC leader warned that under different circumstances, the incident could have triggered a major conflict between the neighboring nations.
“In the conduct of relations between sovereign and friendly states, this was a grave and provocative act,” Fatty said. “Between lesser neighbours, in less disciplined times, an act of this character could easily have been read as nothing short of an act of aggression against a sovereign state. That it has not been treated as such is a measure of Gambian restraint and statesmanship. It is not, and must never be mistaken for, an admission that the act itself was anything less than unacceptable.”
Turning his attention to the response from Dakar, Fatty dismissed Senegal’s claims that long-standing, unresolved territorial concerns in the Bulock area justified the operation. He argued that lingering grievances should have been brought before the Joint Military Committee rather than being settled by force.
“No accumulation of unresolved talks entitles any nation, however large, however close a neighbour, to act first and explain later,” Fatty stated. “That is not diplomacy. It is coercion dressed in the language of grievance.”
demonstrating “discipline and professionalism” and applauding the government’s composed handling of the crisis, the opposition leader emphasized that restraint must not be mistaken forWhile praising the Gambia Armed Forces for showing “discipline and professionalism” and applauding the government’s composed handling of the crisis, the opposition leader emphasized that restraint must not be interpreted as compliance.
“Senegal should take no comfort from Gambian restraint, and should draw no conclusion from it beyond what it is, an invitation to correct course through legitimate means, extended once, in good faith,” Fatty remarked. He reminded citizens that while the country’s institutions responded with maturity, “a small nation that permits its borders to be treated as negotiable, ceases in time to be a nation at all.”
With an ECOWAS Summit scheduled to take place in the coming days, Fatty has called on President Adama Barrow to escalate the matter to the highest regional level. He urged Barrow to raise the issue directly and unambiguously with Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to ensure regional institutions register that such actions violate the core principles of the West African bloc.
“A precedent tolerated quietly in Bulock today is a precedent available to be repeated, against The Gambia or any other member state, tomorrow,” Fatty warned.
Addressing the government of Senegal directly, the political leader noted that the deep historical and kinship ties within the Senegambia region mean the incident cannot simply be “waved away with a statement of good intentions.” He demanded that Dakar provide a clear account of the chain of command that authorized the incursion and offer credible assurances that Gambia’s sovereign territory will be respected in the future.
Fatty concluded by reaffirming his “full and unwavering support” for the territorial integrity of The Gambia, stating that the GMC stands ready to back any constitutional measures the state deems necessary to defend its borders.
