Gambia's Jammeh axes justice minister, appoints cousin
Fri Feb 26, 7:51 AM
BANJUL (AFP) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has fired his justice minister and replaced her with his cousin in the second cabinet shake-up in three weeks, government sources said Friday.
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No official reason was given for the axing of Justice Minister Marie Saine-Firdaus. However a source in the presidency told AFP it was due to her handling of a recent UN review on Gambia's human rights situation in Geneva.
"The president is not happy with her at all because of the way and manner in which she dealt with issues when the country’s human rights report was under review," a senior official at the presidency said on condition of anonymity.
Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland, came under scrutiny during the UN review two weeks ago, at which Amnesty International raised concerns about unlawful arrests and detentions in secret prisons, as well as attacks on press freedom.
The appointment of Jammeh's cousin Pa Harry Jammeh as the minister's replacement comes a week after the president appointed his brother as the country's ambassador to Qatar.
Observers say Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1994, frequently fires ministers and reshuffles government positions in a deliberate strategy to avoid any rival power base forming.
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