Press Release
I wish to welcome the new appointments that His Excellency President Adama Barrow has made to his Cabinet. Giving the extensive professional experiences that these career professionals have over the years, both in and outside The Gambia, I strongly believe that they would bring a lot of valuable contributions to their respective jobs.
Honourable Sheikh Omar Faye was a senior military officer who was part of the pioneer unit and senior officers that oversaw the setting up and transformation of The Gambia national army into a highly organized, fully structured, disciplined force. Add that to his distinguished long and extensive career as a consummate diplomat and a statesman, one will quickly realize that the president has made the right decision of appointing him as one of the people who will champion the security sector reform program of this government. He represented the country in a diplomatic capacity in Washington, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Mauritania. He also served a Minister of Youths and Sports. Let me also recall that Mr. Faye was one of the first Gambian diplomats to resign from the Jammeh government and side with the Gambian people during the political impasse gripped the country after former President Jammeh refused to step down from power.
Similarly, Mr. Yankuba Sonko, the new Interior Minister, also has an impressive security background having served as the Inspector General of Police after more than two decades experience in the police force. He is a fully trained lawyer who has been called to the bar after acquiring a law degree from the Manchester Metropolitan University. Sonko spearheaded the professionalization of the police recruiting highly educated people, including graduates from the University of The Gambia and elsewhere. He also oversaw a training scheme that saw a lot officers sent on overseas training in various parts of the world. Mr Sonko is incredibly popular among the ranks of the internal security apparatus of the country and we are quite hopeful that he would be able to galvanize them to advance the ongoing security sector reform agenda of the Barrow administration. Taking into account that he has never been found wanting by any disciplinary commission or inquiry, as much as I know, I am confident that Sonko’s clean slate will be a good departure point for his next job.
With President Barrow at the helm motivated by a strong political will to see a reformed security sector that protects and guarantees the fundamental rights of the people, I have no doubt that these new Ministers will deliver beyond expectation.
Political Adviser to the President
Siaka Jatta
Ends