Gambia Grabs ECOWAS Commission Presidency

The Gambia will assume the position of President of the ECOWAS Commission for the period from 2022 to 2026 a dispatch from State House has indicated.

The decision was unanimously agreed by the ECOWAS Council. The Gambia’s candidate picked for the high profile job is Dr Omar A. Touray.

It’s the first time in the history of the ECOWAS Commission that Gambia  will occupy the seat. The position rotates among members states of the organisation.

Receiving the news, President Barrow said it’s a sign of the country’s recognition within the sub-region and the strengthened of democratic credentials and respect for the rule of law and independence of the institutions of the state.

Dr Omar A. Touray until his appointment was a former Ambassador and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Gambia. He joined the diplomatic service of the Gambia, starting as Senior Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before being assigned as Secretary and then Counsellor at the Gambia mission to the European Union in Brussels. In 2002, he was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the African Union in Addis Ababa, with concurrent accreditation as High Commissioner to South Africa and Kenya and then in 2008, Permanent Representative of Gambia to the UN. Omar have also written articles and books, such as the Gambia and the World: A History of Foreign Policy of Africa’s Smallest State (Hamburg Institut fur Afrika-Kunde,2000), The African Union: The First Ten Years (London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2006) including several papers on African affairs and international development. Publish in Globe #17