Inside the Gambia-Senegal Border Dispute

Senegal & The Gambia Began working together (Part 2) This is a continuation from the last edition. We stopped at the Darsilami incident and the efforts the former government took to address the issue, including the establishment of a Border Committee by the former government following the two border exercises in order to determine the Senegal-Gambia border. Kolley was part of the Border Committee that prepared a national paper and began engaging Senegal. Below is the continuation. The relationship between the two countries eventually moved from the military confrontation to technical discussions after President Macky Sall assumed office. Former Minister of Local Government and Lands, who at the time was the Director of Physical Planning, Momodou F. Kolley, who spearheaded the border survey exercise, said the Gambian newly established border committee at the time came up with a document regarded as a national paper. During the presidency of Macky Sall, Senegal invited the Gambian government to a meeting. The Gambian Border Committee formed part of the delegation with the idea of making the matter of the border part of the issues to be discussed by the Governments. The Gambian delegation travelled to Senegal. But the Senegalese Border Committee did not attend the meeting. "The Senegalese Border Committee did not come. We were there to make a presentation and also hear from the Senegalese Border Committee," Kolley said. Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines The Gambian delegation was informed that Senegal's border committee was engaged in a meeting with another country. Before leaving Senegal, the Gambian side requested that a new date be fixed and that the next meeting be held in The Gambia. Kolley said the Gambian committee wanted the border issue to be formally placed on the agenda. The Senegalese agreed and it was mentioned as an agenda item. A new date was fixed for the meeting and it was to be held in The Gambia. The meeting was later held at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul. Both sides made presentations. Among the Senegalese participants was Sering Mbye Thiam, a veteran surveyor who had served as the first director of surveys in Senegal. Kolley said Thiam was about 80 years old at the time. He also said that Thiam had participated in the 1972 border dispute in the Sabi-Vélingara area in the Upper River Region. As the meeting developed into what Kolley described as "push and pull", he suggested that Thiam should be allowed to speak as someone who has experience over the border matter and a living witness, who attended previous borders between the two countries. Kolley described Thiam's presence as important. Kolley said he was the person who identified Thiam in the gathering. He recalled Thiam's name during his research in the Sabi area border dispute and this was why he felt that Thiam was an important figure fitting to speak in that meeting. Thiam was at the time a retired worker, but was always used by the Senegalese as a backup for advice and guidance. "Thiam confirmed the presentation made by The Gambia; that the Gambian presentation was right," Kolley said. He said the Senegalese side did not have enough material to answer all of the points raised by The Gambia. The two sides therefore agreed to leave the conference room and physically inspect the disputed boundary. "The Senegalese side did not have enough materials to present and we decided that since that was the case, we should go physically to the site [border] to see," he said. The joint team comprising the two countries travelled to the Alahin Bolong boundary peg between Siffoe and Darsilami. They walked along the edge of the stream. The route connected to Darsilami and Tranquil. The team also visited the Dimbaya village. Information was collected from the ground. The pegs were identified. One of the things done was that the meeting was held at Darsilami under a tree. The first phase ended there. The two sides agreed that both countries should r

Source: Original reporting via AllAfrica Senegal