Africa-Press – Gambia. Abdoulie Sanyang, Minister of Interior, has announced that The Gambia will replace its traditional prison system with a modern correctional facility as part of the government’s flagship prison reform program.
Speaking at a special edition of Mansa Kunda with the Children’s National Assembly, Minister Sanyang revealed that land has already been secured in Brikama Nyambikala for the new facility, with the foundation stone expected to be laid within the next two to three months.
“The Ministry of Interior currently has a very big flagship program that is our prison reform, in that we are changing from prisons to correctional facilities, and then the government of His Excellency, the President of Gambia, has directed the ministry to work on those things ASAP. I think in the next two to three months we will lay the foundation stone. We have identified the land around Brikama Nyambikala, and we have almost half of the funds. Once that is established, it will also have a production center,” Minister Sanyang said.
He explained that the new correctional facility will be designed to rehabilitate rather than punish offenders, with specific provisions for juvenile detainees to continue their education while serving time.
“In this particular facility, if you are sent to prison, you continue your education. It will have facilities that will do grade seven up to grade 12, and then if you are in grade seven, you go to grade eight, and then you have the prisons; we will connect you because we are working hand in glove with the education secretary to make sure students are taken care of,” he stated.
The Interior Minister also highlighted ongoing improvements in police infrastructure, noting that recently constructed police stations include gender and child protection units to ensure safer and more humane conditions for detainees.
“Our new facility, the new police model facilities, also took care of the gender and children’s facilities that are inside those stations. We have built about one UN-sponsored one, the Germans sponsored two, we are also doing two, and then the GIZ also does another five,” he said.
Minister Sanyang emphasized that these reforms are focused on creating humane detention conditions and transforming the justice and security system.
“Most of the time, when we put people in the cell, you think we just want to put people in the cell, but when we go home, we don’t sleep because we know the conditions. That is why the Gambia police force is doing everything possible to make sure we have model police stations,” he said.
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