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Gambia News : Ambassador Foday Yumkella makes emotional exit from the Gambia

Mr. Yumkella this week bade farewell to Gambian leader, Dr. Yaya Jammeh,   at State House in Banjul .He also said goodbye to Vice-President Madam Isatou Njie Saidy.

Mr. Yumkella this week bade farewell to Gambian leader, Dr. Yaya Jammeh and Vice-President Madam Isatou Njie Saidy .According to Sierra Leone Embassy sources, the Ambassador said, after meeting with Jammeh :  "I am full of praise for H. E President Yahya A. J. J Jammeh, for recognising my effort in strengthening the relationship between the two countries.....The responsibility of the High Commissioner is to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. In my first interview I was asked what was my vision? I said it was to strengthen our relationship and now I have done it.”

President Jammeh, in bidding farewell to the Sierra Leonean Ambassador, commended him : "You don’t know how you have strengthened our two countries’ relationship. You are leaving now but our relationship is at the highest .” The President gave Yumkella an unspecified gift to help him pursue his dream of going into agriculture on his return to Sierra Leone.

Embassy sources also said that Sierra Leoneans in the Gambia , in farewell programs, commended the Ambassador for boosting the image of all Sierra Leoneans in the country and  for strenthening the relations between the Republics of Sierra Leone and the Gambia. Ambassador Yumkella played a leading role in convincing the Gambian authorities to give Sierra Leoneans Alien Resident Permits on gratis.

THE POINT newspaper of Banjul reported that Rev. Charles Lewis of the Association of Sierra Leonean Ministers in the Gambia , during a special prayer service for the outgoing Ambassador , remarked : "You are one person we admire so much. We recognise your effort and the impact you have made on this society.  He restored the prestige of all Sierra Leoneans in The Gambia and became a friend to many for the sake of a better Sierra Leone. "

Ambassador Yumkella leaves shortly for Sierra Leone.