Foreign relations of the Gambia 14 February 2017, The Gambia began the process of returning and formally presented its application to re-join to Secretary-General Patricia Scotland on 22 January 2018. Boris Johnson, who became the first British Foreign Secretary to visit The Gambia since the country gained independence in 1965, announced that the British government welcomed The Gambia's return to the Commonwealth. The Gambia rejoined on 8 February 2018. Foreign relations of the Gambia The Gambia followed a formal policy of non-alignment throughout most of former President Dawda Jawara's tenure. It maintained close relations with the United Kingdom, Senegal, and other African countries. The July
History of the Gambia I, the Gambia Company served alongside other British troops in the Kamerun campaign, under the command of Captain V. B. Thurston of the Dorsetshire Regiment, and a number of its soldiers received gallantry medals for their conduct. In 1920, the National Congress of British West Africa was formed, an organisation working towards African emancipation, with Edward Francis Small as the sole delegate. He returned and founded the Gambia Section of the Congress, the principal aim of which was to achieved elected representation in the government of the Gambia. It also frequently petitioned against unpopular government policies. It had some success,