The Minister of the Interior Mai Ahmad Fatty has said that a new police training academy is being planned to replace the now-decrepit Gambia police training school to raise the standard of policing in the country.
Minister Fatty spoke while paying a scheduled visit to the Gambia Police Force Training School in Banjullinding on Tuesday.
Minister Fatty said the new academy will focus primarily on the needs of the Gambia Police Force, in a time of uncertainty.
Fatty stated: “The Gambia Police Force is manned by men and women who are very dedicated. We have to have a mutil-integrated academy that will cater for all of the needs of the needs of the police particularly arms and weapons treatment but also specialized areas like ballistics, tactics and others. These are all very important. They are in the plans and I’m sure in the next three years we will be implementing them in phases. We will also be on an aggressive resource hunt so that we can achieve these plans.”
And he added: “The training school will become an academy, a formal academy with the facilities and amenities of an academy. We are also looking at where they can graduate and have bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes. It is time that we moved from couple of months training to where police officers will graduate with degrees in areas like ballistic, intelligence and forensics. These are the areas we must develop and we have to have specialized unit under the police command so that in the event of need, these units will come in. That’s the global vision that we are going to be implementing in the next year and beyond. We have the commitment of the government.”
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mai Ahmad Fatty after ending his visit to the police training school made a dash to the Banjul International Airport where he met with members of The Gambia’s law enforcement outfits stationed there.
He told the meeting: “My coming here serves two purposes; one is to interact with you and secondly to express government’s concern but also to learn and share and review what is happening here. His Excellency the President has directed me to be here, to interact with you and to thank you for the job you are doing for the country. From GCCAA management right down to the security institutions that are represented here.
“The first point of contact for anybody coming here is the immigration. I want to thank them for the job they are doing. Our law enforcement outfits are doing a tremendous job, under very difficult circumstances. Their salaries are poor, their working conditions are not the most conducive, and their living quarters are not the best. With all these, they continue to serve our country because they believe as Gambians they have an obligation to work for the development of our country. That sacrifice that they live as a lifestyle I thank you on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior and on behalf of the His Excellency the President.”
The Inspector General of Police Landing Kinteh, the Director General of the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority, and the Deputy Director General of Immigration Seedy Touray all spoke at the meeting.
