The Minister of Interior, honorable Mai Ahmed Fatty has dismissed reports of former President Jammeh loyalists allegedly planning to invade The Gambia.
The Interior Minister made these statements in a marathon question and answer session at the National Assembly in Banjul.
“There is no invasion force coming into this country. Anybody who think our security is fragile and want to try it you will wish you never tried it,” Minister Mai Ahmed Fatty said.
The Interior Minister told deputies that the government is taking the security of the country very seriously. He reiterated the concerns of the new government in terms of security matters, saying it would not be wise to disclosed some of the things they are doing. He reassured with confidence that the security of the country is in tact.
Minister Fatty in responding to the Member for Banjul South with regard to the appointment of former associates of President Jammeh said no amount of pressure would force the government to act on sentiments because no responsible government would rush to punish people without substantial evidence available. He said there is a difference between perception and reality while the people accused of being guilty are only assumptions. He also disclosed that the government is looking into the allegations judiciously.
“There will be no sacred cow. We are looking at anyone who is involved,” he asserted.
The Interior Minister in his respond to the questions raised by the member for Banjul South about the Kanilai and Farato incidents said they have regretted it and learnt lessons on those incidents particularly from the honourable member for Serrekunda, Halifa Sallah who is also the Vice Chairman of the Defense and Security Council.
Interior Minister Fatty called on the National Assembly to consider increasing the budget allocation of his ministry as the most urgent priority in the country is security. He said the security forces particularly the police must be adequately equipped to maintain peace and security in the country. He said the idea of cutting down the security budget is not wise.
“The former government of Yahya Jammeh has built only one police station for the past 22 years. That is the station in Sibanor,” he interjected.
Minister Fatty commended the sacrifices made by the country’s security forces under the compelling circumstances they worked. He began to explain the plight of the police force, saying many of them only have one uniform which they have to wash overnight to wear on the following day to go to work. He also added that some of them have one shoe which they bought for themselves.
He disclosed that 80 percent of the police uniforms were bought by the police themselves from their contributions from the peace keeping missions.
The honorable minister further highlighted on the plight of the police officers and families in the police quarters where he said 30 people are sharing a broken toilet and making queues every morning to take bath to go to work. He said some of them are living under leaking roofs. He said these are problems inherited from the former government.
“Our police are poorly equipped and they need adequate resources to do their jobs,” he pointed out.
The Minister also responded to a questions raised by the Minority Leader and Member for Niamina Dankunku with regard to the issuance of passport which he said Africard is the company contracted for the production of Biometric passports in 2014. He said it is a 10 year contract at the end of which government will own the entire infrastructure. He indicated that the ministry’s dissatisfaction is the fact that the chunk of the money obtained goes to the company but they are considering legal means to get things right.
Honourable member for Banjul North, Ousman Sillah queried about the Central Prison close to the dump site which poses a great health risk to the prisoners. The minister in his respond said one of the key priory of his ministry is to effectively manage and improve conditions in prisons and detention centres, including human rights conditions and service delivery for prisoner’s rehabilitation. He disclosed the plans of the government to build a modern prison and closed down Mile 2 once a new prison is built.
“There are no political prisoners in the country,” he told deputies.
The Minister confirmed that some people have spend more than 2 years in remand without appearing before any court. He said there is a committee that is looking into their cases. He said once the committee clears the investigation they will release them.
Meanwhile, the session has been adjourned to Monday, July 24, 2017 for the President to address the National Assembly.
