Bora Colley by all accounts is a high-level security threat to the state and society of the Gambia. As a leading member of the death squad, Junglers, Bora’s name could be heard throughout the TRRC hearings in almost all cases of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, enforced disappearance and executions. He was a man who joined Tyrant Yaya Jammeh to flee to Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 only to appear eight years later.

The question is, how come Bora could return and not be detected by the security apparatuses in this country? The National Assembly should be hugely concerned about this matter and take the necessary steps to look into the security setup of this country to see whether it is fit for purpose. The undetected entry of Bora clearly exposes loopholes within the security network of the Gambia which is a major cause for concern.

Therefore I call on the Defense and Security Committee of the National Assembly to summon the heads of relevant security agencies, namely, the National Security Advisor, the Director General of the NIA, the Inspector General of Police (GPF), the Chief of Defense Staff (GAF), the Director General of Immigration (GID) and the Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) to ask them to explain how their intelligence failed to detect the entry of Bora Colley. These security agencies have immense presence at the land, sea, and air borders of the Gambia hence no one, especially a highly sensitive person of interest should be able to enter the country without their detection. The National Assembly should hold these heads of security agencies accountable for the way they carry out their mandate.  

This country is said to be undergoing security sector reforms for at least for the past 5 years. It is expected that these reforms will strengthen national security. This means the security agencies would have been much more effective, efficient, and professional so that they are able to guarantee internal security to the maximum by preventing such breaches. How then could a popular death squad operative who was living with the dictator quietly walk into the country unnoticed? If Bora had not surrendered himself, could he have lived his entire life in this country undetected? In that case, would he not have escaped accountability for his gross human rights violations?

Answers to these questions therefore question the professionalism, effectiveness, and strength of the national security apparatus. Is the country well secure or not? Are security agencies indeed performing their functions as they should? What is the quality of intelligence, surveillance skills and equipment, and overall capacity of security agencies, as well as the quality of collaboration between security agencies? The heads of security agencies must be called to answer this serious security lapse resulting in the undetected entry of Bora Colley and his continued presence in the country until he surrendered himself.

For The Gambia, Our Homeland

Madi Jobarteh