The Gambian government on Tuesday announced it has set up an investigative panel and gave it 30 days to report back on last week’s coup attempt following the arrest of alleged coup plotters, reported The Africa News.
The government spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh said the 11-member investigative panel will include members of the Justice Ministry, the office of national security, the armed forces, police and intelligence services. The investigative panel members were sworn in on Tuesday.
“Investigators have 30 days effective today to investigate, prepare and submit their report on the alleged coup plot,” Sankareh said in a statement.
Last Wednesday, the Gambian government said it had thwarted a coup bid the previous day and detained some military personnel.
A military captain and lieutenant were detained during the weekend. Sankareh said that the two are accused of helping investigators unearth allegations of plans to overthrow President Adama Barrow’s government.
Five others soldiers have been held. According to the authorities, two other people accused of having a role in the failed coup attempt are still at large.
Opposition politician Momodou Sabally, who was the minister of presidential affairs under ex-leader Yahya Jammeh, has also been detained after he appeared in a video suggesting the current president would be overthrown before the next local elections.
Sabally’s United Democratic Party has called for the immediate release of their party leader.
West Africa has witnessed a series of military takeovers since 2020, in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. The turbulence and militant insurgency across the Sahel has forced leaders of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS this month to decide on setting up an intervention force to reinforce stability.
Former Gambian President Jammeh ruled for 22 long years until Barrow defeated him in presidential elections in December 2016. He then fled to Equatorial Guinea. Barrow was re-elected in December 2021 for a second five-year term with 53 percent of the vote.
