Gambia’s new President Adama Barrow has vowed to build a new Prison in the country, to replace the notorious ancient and notorious Mile II prisons.
He said his government is also working on reforming and refurbishing the Mile II prisons to fit human habitation.
Mr Barrow made the declaration on Thursday during an informal courtesy call paid to him by the top brass of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The Mile II prisons in The Gambia have been described as the worst prison in the world.
He said “We are working on a lot of reforms in all sectors including the prison. We want to reform the prison. We even want to build a new prison to meet world standards. We want to make sure that if human right groups visit the Gambia, they can easily access and inspect the prison without any appointment like before” he said.
According to him, people in the prison should be reformed so that when they are out of the prisons, they will be useful in society.
He insisted on his government’s commitment to ensure absolute rule of law in the country saying they went to elections based on the principles of democracy and good governance. He reminded the human rights group top brass that he and the coalition members contested elections base on principles and democracy and will make sure that it’s respected to the latter.
“We want to make sure that institution of democracy prevails in this country. We will respect the dictates of the constitution and ensure rule of law and whatever will happen in this country, will be through the due process of the law. We believe we cannot develop as a country if we are not within the framework of the rule of law. We want to create security environment for everyone. We create equal chance for everyone. My government is committed to make sure this happen, it will take time though” he concluded.
