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By Assan Sallah
Seasoned intelligence officer, Musa Dibba, deputy Director General of the State Intelligence Services (SIS) has been appointed as the new deputy National Security Adviser.
Sources hinted that his appointment took effect on 27th January 2020. Dibba is now based at the State House under the office of the National Security Adviser and will work directly under Rtd. Col. Momodou Badjie, the National Security Adviser.
Officials described Dibba’s re-deployment as a sad news for many staff of the SIS due to his honesty, integrity and professionalism. “He is a seasoned intelligence officer and is very professional, honest and has integrity. He is doing great for us here and we definitely appreciate his work,” said an official of the SIS.
Career
Musa Dibba completed 6th form at the Gambia High School in Banjul and was enlisted into the Gambia Police Force (GPF) in 1985. He passed out in 1986 and upon completion of his training, he was deployed at the Special Branch of the Gambia Police Force. He served at the Special Branch until 1988 when he was appointed as Cadet Officer. He was then re-deployed to Mansa Konko Division as the Assistant Station Officer (ASO), where he worked for nearly two years and was re-deployed back and moved to the National Security Services (NSS) during the late Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara’s regime. The NSS was later changed to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) during former president Yahya Jammeh’s era and Dibba travelled to the UK to do his Master’s in Conflict Resolution.
When he returned home, he rose through the ranks until he became director of Analysis at the NIA and later director of Administration at the country’s intelligence agency.
In 2006, upon his return from an official mission to Nairobi (Kenya), he was arrested at the Banjul International Airport in Yundum. Dibba’s arrest was in connection to the late Col. Ndure Cham’s coup plot. His arrest came as a result of the earlier arrest of the late former Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Sheriff Dibba in the same coup. The former president’s intelligence operatives had suspected that Musa Dibba might have knowledge about the coup due to his family ties (Dibba family) with Hon. Sheriff Dibba. He was detained at Mile II prison for several months and subsequently dismissed from the NIA.
In 2009, when the late Numo Kujabi was appointed as NIA director general. Musa Dibba was re-instated as deputy Director General. He continued working at the NIA until Mr. Adama Barrow became president in 2017. After the arrest of the former DG of NIA Yankuba Badjie in 2017, Musa Dibba was made Director General briefly.
He served as DG for two weeks and Ousman Sowe, who was sacked by former president Yahya Jammeh, was re-instated as Director General and Musa Dibba subsequently became deputy DG.
The author Assan Sallah is a Gambian journalist living in Germany. He was news editor and security affairs reporter at the Daily Observer.