Speaking at his first news conference since returning to take office, Gambia’s new president, Adama Barrow, announced that the country’s official name will no longer contain the word
“Islamic” , which had been added by former President, Yahya Jammeh in 2015.
The new president said The Gambia, whose population is 90 percent Muslim, with the rest Christian and animist, was a republic “not the Islamic republic” .
According to Al Jazeera, President Barrow, also announced plans to rename the the country’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA), a dreaded secret police accused by rights groups of forced disappearances and torture under the control of former leader Yahya Jammeh.
He told reporters on Saturday the NIA was “an institution that has to continue” , but with a different name.
“The rule of the law, that will be the order of the day,” he said, adding that training would be given to NIA’s operatives.
