Gambian leader appoints cousin as interior minister

By Mustapha K Darboe

BANJUL, Gambia

President Adama Barrow of Gambia on Monday appointed his cousin as the new interior minister.

Ebrima Mballow, a banker by profession, had been serving as governor of the country’s most populous region West Coast since March 2017.

Mballow was a police officer until he left in the year 2000 after he ran into trouble with former President Yahya Jammeh.

He has now replaced Habib Saihou Drammeh as the interior minister after his appointment was questioned by many given his inexperience in security matters.

The relieved former interior minister Drammeh has been appointed as the head of the country’s Civil Service to replace Dawda Fadera.

This is the second time Barrow sacks a minister since coming to power in December 2016.

By Mustapha K Darboe

BANJUL, Gambia

President Adama Barrow of Gambia on Monday appointed his cousin as the new interior minister.

Ebrima Mballow, a banker by profession, had been serving as governor of the country’s most populous region West Coast since March 2017.

Mballow was a police officer until he left in the year 2000 after he ran into trouble with former President Yahya Jammeh.

He has now replaced Habib Saihou Drammeh as the interior minister after his appointment was questioned by many given his inexperience in security matters.

The relieved former interior minister Drammeh has been appointed as the head of the country’s Civil Service to replace Dawda Fadera.

This is the second time Barrow sacks a minister since coming to power in December 2016.