The Gambia Armed Forces high command has dismissed claims it promised to pay Gambian soldiers who were trained in Turkey 122,000 dalasis each.

“The attention of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) has once again been drawn to a recent What’s On Gambia (WOG) Facebook post claiming that GAF owes training allowance to members of QRF 2 personnel that have recently returned from training mission in the Republic of Turkey. 

“The post indicated that the concerned personnel were promised to receive a certain course allowance upon returning to the Gambia.

“However, the publication is not only misleading and malicious but also out of context and devoid of relevant facts surrounding the deployment of the said troops to the republic of Turkey. 

“It may be necessary to indicate that GAF Command held a meeting with the top tier of QRF 2 at the Defence Headquarters shortly before their departure to Turkey and one of the critical agenda items discussed was course allowance. 

“During the said meeting, it was indicated that the current Terms and Conditions of Service has provisions for troops’ course or training allowance,” the army said.

“Nonetheless, training programmes that are fully funded such as this particular one in question, only departure allowances are paid based on the following reasons: troop’s feeding is borne by the host country; uniform clothing and relevant training gears and equipment are provided for by host country; a monthly stipend is paid by host country when deployed; transportation while away is provided and paid for by host country; air transport from home to host country and back is entirely funded by the host country; training facilities and facilitators are provided at no cost to the individual and the training and knowledge acquired belongs to the individual for eternity and the certificate earned as a result; others that could be fit to be referred to as miscellaneous are all taken care of not at the individual’s expense. Hence the Turkish government and Armed Forces have fulfilled all the above mentions.

“It is equally important to highlight the fact that during the farewell briefing for QRF 2 that was graced by the current Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff and Director of Finance GAF at The Gambia Armed Forces Training School (GAFTS), the above conditions were vividly explained to the troops. 

“In his remarks, the Finance Director said that GAF has sent troops to several countries including Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) and severally, others to the republic of Senegal with similar financial conditions accorded. 

“The same conditions apply to the recent contingent (QRF 3) in the republic of Turkey,” it added.

“Furthermore, during the farewell briefing of personnel of QRF 2, an opportunity was provided for anyone unwilling to undertake the journey with the financial conditions highlighted to withdraw but none objected. 

“Therefore, GAF encourage all patriotic and responsible citizens to desist from spreading baseless allegation with malicious intent to mislead the public and ferment discord within the ranks and files of the military.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba