Leaks of meetings of the Senegalese and Gambian Border Commissions are featuring in the Gambian media, and the key information is that they are not re-demarcating the border but are just identifying the pillars established when the border was demarcated.
It is mentioned in the Gambian media that the Gambian side has cautioned farmers not to fear losing their farmland. Foroyaa will contact the head of the Gambian Border Commission to find out what this means. This is why press releases sent to all media houses or press conferences to which all media houses are invited constitute the best means of enlightening the public of the work of the border commissions.
The principle accepted by the African Union, which is currently relied on to condemn Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, is that the colonial borders shall continue to be the borders of African states. First and foremost, this continental position should be popularized and made known to all citizens of neighbouring countries, especially those at the border.
Suffice it to say that if the colonialists had accurately measured and established pillars to demarcate the borders of their colonies, based on agreements archived, to be retrievable with any maps confirming border villages or vegetation, such information should be relied on by independent states to finalise their agreement on where the colonial border started and stopped.
This is the exercise that the border commissions of The Gambia and Senegal should undertake by relying on experts to attain their goal. It is still not clear to the Gambian people on what has or has not been done to respect and uphold the standard of determining borders by the African Union.
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