Charles welcomes Gambia back into the fold
THE PRINCE of Wales began the first full day of his west African tour by highlighting the “important milestone” taken by Gambians in turning their backs on “22 years of autocratic rule”.
The West African nation, a British colony until 1965, returned to the Commonwealth fold in February, five years after its now exiled former leader, Yahya Jammeh, declared it a “neocolonial institution”.
Charles’ comment came during a welcoming ceremony attended by Gambia’s president, Adama Barrow, whose surprise election victory in 2016 brought an end to Jammeh’s authoritarian regime.
“It was, if I may say so, an important milestone on the new road that the Gambia has chosen in turning your back on 22 years of autocratic rule in order to embrace a new beginning,” Charles said at a “Commonwealth Big Lunch” at the High Commissioner’s residence. He and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, underlined the political significance of their visit by visiting Commonwealth war graves in the capital, Banjul.
They had been welcomed to Gambia by officials and schoolchildren, before heading off to a medical research facility run by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and an armed forces’ training centre, at which Gambian troops are preparing for a peacekeeping mission in Sudan. The Royal tour will also see the Prince and Camilla visit Ghana and Nigeria, a similar route to that taken by Theresa May on her African trade mission in August and September.
It was, if I may say so, an important milestone on the new road. The Prince of Wales in Gambia on his west African tour.