Pakistan’s Ambassador based in the Senegalese capital-Dakar and overseeing Gambia and quite a handful number of countries within the West Africa subregion, has assured the commitment of his government to supporting the Gambia in hosting the Islamic Organization Conference in 2021.

Speaking to Gambiana, Ambassador Imran Mirza said: “we have wish that the OIC summit—if they seek our support we will be there and this is a new government that needs institutional building that is why it was decided for the time being it was shifted to Saudi Arabia and the government of the Gambia would be more prepared next time and we will support them for sure.”

Ambassador Mirza, who is currently in the Gambia for a visit as part of his official duty mandated upon him every sixth month to pay a visit to the country, met with government officials and the Pakistani community in the country.

Meanwhile, the Gambia failed to host the OIC conference this year which was relocated to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to the lack of adequate infrastructure to host such a high profile conference with lots of delegates including heads of states and kings.
The relocation of the conference sparked bitter public debate among Gambians.

Critics slammed President Barrow’s government of being negligent saying his regime had squandered the opportunity to the Saudis.

But after announcement of the unsuccessfulness of the Gambia government to host the OIC, President Barrow left for Saudi Arabia for a summit and announced upon his arrival that the Gambia will host the OIC in 2021.

However, the Gambia won the opportunity to host the renowned Islamic Organization Conference under the former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh who later declared Gambia an Islamic State.

And Jammeh’s declaration in 2015 didn’t go down well with many Gambians as they said that the Gambia is a secular state that shouldn’t be labelled under any religion.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba