Justice Minister Firdaus fired

By Kemo Cham
Unconfirmed reports from Gambia say that President Yahya Jammeh has sacked his Justice Minister, Marie Saine-Firdaus.
According to our source, an unnamed replacement has already been identified.
The nation awaits a possible announcement later this evening.
AFP, in a report earlier on Friday, February 26, 2010, quoted an anonymous source close to State House in Banjul as saying that a cousin of the president, outspoken former senior magistrate, Pa Harry Jammeh, has been appointed the new Justice Minister.
This development comes just under three weeks after the minor cabinet reshuffle that saw the dismissal of four ministers. No reason was given then for those dismissals.
Just last Thursday evening, an official statement aired on the Gambia Radio and Television Services, said to be from the Justice ministry in Banjul, proclaimed the recent performance by the sacked minister and the delegation she headed to Geneva to defend Gambia’s highly disputed human rights record as a remarkable achievement in the face of falsified reports by human rights groups and dissidents, reflecting the “dynamic and excellent leadership” of the country.
However, according to the AFP report, its Gambian government source said Marie Saine Firdaus’ sacking was in fact due to her handling of UN UPR.
“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,” the AFP source said.
Over the past 15 years, the Gambia has come under increased international spotlight, mainly thanks to unfavorable attention directed at Yahya Jammeh’s human rights records.
Just days after the country’s right situation was reviewed in Geneva, the disturbing report about the expulsion of the Unicef country representative was announced. Up until now the Gambian government hasn’t given any explanation to that effect.