President Adama Barrow on Friday met the Inspector General of Police and the police high command and discussed national security.
“Now that we are a democracy, with the security forces operating in a free environment, fundamental rights must be respected and all citizens treated with dignity.
“The malpractices under the last dictatorship are not accepted in the New Gambia…,” he said.
However, he urged citizens to respect the police and the rule of law.
For his part the IGP, Mamour Jobe, said the occasion was historic because they discussed issues of national security which has not happened for the past 37 years.
He told the president his forces will continue to be loyal to his government and will support him in all aspects of national security and national development.
The courtesy call on the Gambian leader came in the wake of several challenges faced by the police in protecting the population in recent times, especially with the reported rise in crime rates and other civil disturbances across the country.
Commissioners Omar Darboe and Lalo Camara both spoke of the need for more urgent support to the police, saying they have been “neglected in recent years.”
They called for patience from the public to put their house “in order” and do their job with “diligence.”
Interior minister Ebrima Mballow told the senior officers that in order to execute their functions effectively, “they must refrain from partisan politics or tribalism.”
Vice President Ousainu Darboe said that government “was looking forward to seeing that the police force is completely depoliticized.”
