Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Gambian President
Adama Barrow said Saturday that every aspect of his tiny west African state
would need an overhaul after ex-leader Yahya Jammeh's 22-year rule, but that
its dreaded secret police would remain.
Barrow faces an uphill task after taking over
from Jammeh, who left behind a dysfunctional economy and allegedly emptied
state coffers ahead of his departure.
Rights group blame the notorious National
Intelligence Agency (NIA) under his longtime control for forced disappearances
and torture.
Barrow said the NIA was "an institution
that has to continue", but that its name would be changed and training
would be given to its operatives."The rule of the law, that will be the
order of the day," he said.Barrow also addressed one of Jammeh's most
controversial declarations, from 2015, that The Gambia was an "Islamic
republic".
Barrow, in contrast, insisted the country --
whose population is 90 percent Muslim, with the rest Christian and animist --
was a republic, "not the Islamic republic".Civil servants would likely return to a
five-day work week, breaking with Jammeh's rule that Friday was a day off in
line with his Islamic republic rules.
"My government is going to look at every
avenue and there will be a complete overhaul of the system," Barrow said,
speaking at his first press conference since arriving back from Senegal on Thursday.The president promised his cabinet would be
named early next week so that he could "get the ball rolling", adding
he would receive the first comprehensive information about the state of the
nation's finances also on Monday or Tuesday.
Jammeh has been accused by a Barrow aide of
taking $11 million from the state coffers before leaving for exile in
Equatorial Guinea, and diplomats have said the country was already in a
precarious financial state.Barrow's first cabinet pick, Vice President
Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, has caused controversy as she is allegedly too old
to serve, according to current constitutional rules.
Asked about reform of The Gambia's army,
whose poor reputation is partly responsible for the presence of 4,000 west
African troops to guarantee Barrow and the population's safety, the president
said he expected foreign nations to provide help. In the army, if we need technical aid,
we will contact countries that are willing to help us," he said. Controversial army chief Ousman Badjie would
however keep his job, he said. There was "no time set" for the
west African force to leave, Barrow added.
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