Exercise
There has actually been no official border separation workout in between The Gambia and Senegal for more than a century, according to Hassoum Ceesay, Director General of the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC).
Ceesay stated the just recognized separation workout was performed in 1904 and 1905, when The Gambia was under British colonial guideline, and Senegal was administered by France.
He is amongst the authorities associated with the present joint border workout, which is looking for to recognize and record old border pillars along the 2 nations’ shared border.
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According to Ceesay, the workout is challenging since a few of the initial pillars have actually vanished or been eliminated for many years, while the work has actually likewise been occurring throughout the rainy season.
“It’s a hard job trying to retrace the boundary pillars, some of which have been removed by inhabitants and developers,” Ceesay stated.
“The other challenge we have is the timing of the exercise. It fell inside the rainy season. At times we enter bushy areas just to find the pillars.”
The present workout acquired restored attention following a fight in July 2026 at the Gambian military barracks in Bullock, Foni, after Senegalese soldiers supposedly bulldozed part of the center.
The occurrence set off restored conversations about the requirement to develop and plainly mark the border in between the 2 nations.
Ceesay stated the event might have been prevented if succeeding federal governments had actually carried out an official border separation workout.
“I fully agree. If they, the two countries’ past leaders, had done a transparent boundary demarcation exercise, then what happened at Bullock would never have happened,” he stated.
He stated the present workout is the very first joint endeavor of its kind in between the 2 nations considering that the colonial-era work of 1904 and 1905.
Ceesay stated The Gambia had actually maintained main files associating with the colonial limit, which he stated were bied far from the British administration.
He contrasted this with Senegal’s records, stating the product acquired from the French administration was insufficient.
“That’s why during the 2026 joint boundary exercise, we as a country have the official boundary document as proof of the agreed century-old colonial binding document,” he stated.
“But Senegal, through their university professor tasked to represent Dakar in this exercise, didn’t have as much information and couldn’t produce the amount of information that we have got from our nation’s archives.”
Ceesay stated the Senegalese specialist had at times inquired from the Gambian side due to the fact that of the records kept in The Gambia.
He stated the historic files had actually been necessary in assisting the 2 sides recognize the place of old limit pillars.
The present workout is being performed by a joint commission from the 2 nations.
Ceesay stated the groups had actually up until now covered about 30 kilometres of the more than 700-kilometre land border.
He stated arguments had actually emerged throughout the workout however were being solved through conversation.
“We have disagreements, but we always find common ground to agree, and then it will be signed by the witnesses from Ghana and Burkina Faso,” he stated.
The 2 nations welcomed agents from Ghana and Burkina Faso to take part in the procedure, Ceesay stated, due to the fact that both nations had experience handling border disagreements.
“Because the two countries once had border problems, it was sensible to invite them to share the models they used to settle their differences during the Ghana-Togo border crisis and the Mali-Burkina Faso border war in which some lives were lost 40 years ago,” he stated.
Ceesay stated the work was requiring which it was not yet clear when the next stage would start or when the whole workout would be finished.
He stated the rainy season had actually made the work harder however that the groups would resume when conditions enhanced.
“The prevailing conditions in the rainy season are tough, but when it declines we will resume the work,” he stated.
He included that the value of the workout indicated that the groups would make the effort required to finish the work.
Beyond marking the border, Ceesay stated the workout had actually highlighted the close social and cultural links in between neighborhoods on both sides.
He stated a lot of the neighborhoods existed long before the modern-day borders separating The Gambia and Senegal.
“What is called Gambia and Senegal is not long ago, but what we had here was Baol, Kayor, Sine and Saloum, Fulladu, Baddibu, Kiang and Foni, Kantora and Tumana headed by kings,” he stated.
Ceesay likewise described historic figures consisting of Sait Matty Bah, Foday Kabba, Foday Sillah, Musa and Alpha Molloh.
He stated colonial guideline and the servant trade had actually interfered with existing societies and impacted how individuals comprehended their history and culture.
Ceesay required higher cooperation in between neighborhoods in the 2 nations, stating the border did not eliminate the household and cultural ties in between them.
“Our two countries share many culturally rooted things in common, which clearly reflects socially,” he stated.
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“During the exercise, we reached a border village where the two Alkalo’s, the village head on the Gambian side and that of the Senegalese side, are biological brothers. So we are one people, one family.”
Ceesay stated the federal governments of The Gambia and Senegal were presently paying the expenses of their particular groups, consisting of transport, food and lodging.
“For now, our respective governments are bearing the cost from mobility, feeding and accommodation,” he stated.
He stated there was likewise interest in establishing neighborhoods along the border once the separation work was finished.
“Later, developments like schools, markets, water and electricity will all be provided by governments and institutions who are showing the willingness to create a special Senegambia community,” he stated.
Ceesay stated it was not yet clear when the 2nd stage of the workout would start.
He stated the work was very important not just for developing the area of the border however likewise for enhancing relations and cooperation in between the 2 nations.
The joint workout, he stated, might add to long lasting peace, smoother cooperation and advancement for neighborhoods living along the Gambia-Senegal border.
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