From liberation to occupation : unraveling the growing Gambian discontent over ecomig prolonged presence

Abstract

The issues of liberation and occupation are often intertwined in external interventions. These interventions are often presented as efforts to ensure peace, stability and freedom to conflict affected societies, in practice they often lead to outcome that resemble control or occupation. The tension between the intention to liberate and the reality of occupation shows deeper issues in how international peacebuilding is designed and implemented. This thesis focuses on how prolonged presence of external intervention influence local perception of legitimacy, by employing a critical case study of Economic Community of West African States Mission In The Gambia (ECOMIG). While regional peacekeeping missions are perceived to be legitimate due to cultural proximity than international ones, this study challenge this assumption, as even regional intervention can be perceived as coercive and alienating if they fail to incorporate local actors and have clear exit strategies. ECOMIG as a regional body in the Gambia, struggles with the issues of accountability and local legitimacy firmly rooted within questions of sovereignty and popular trust. Grounded on the theory of local ownership I argue that, the duration of an intervention plays an important role in influencing local perception of legitimacy, local legitimacy in external interventions is not inherent, it is created within the intervention for a specific objective and crucially time-bound. This underscores the need for temporal initiatives to enable a gradual handover of power to local institutions and adopting clear withdrawal strategies. When such missions extend their mandate, it often results in fostering a dependency relationship, limiting domestic reforms, reinforcing perception of external imposition and prompting resentment. This argument is supported through qualitative analysis of journal articles, reports and news outlets. The study identified three interrelated factors resulting to the loss of legitimacy of the ECOMIG intervention in the Gambia, leading to a shift from liberating to an occupying force: The prolonged presence of this external forces has resulted to a dependency relationship affecting local capacity and undermines Security Sector Reform (SSR) of the Gambia. The perception of foreign imposition, focusing on Senegal’s dominant role in the intervention which is seen more as regional interest than a dedication to ensuring stability and the lack of transparency on the mission’s activities focusing on its objectives and withdrawal plan. These factors have marginalized local actors particularly in the politically sensitive regions like Kanilai reinforcing nationalistic resistance and mistrust towards the mission. The study demonstrates that external interventions risk becoming counterproductive when they fail to ensure a transition of power from external to local actors.