Barrow Says Government Approves The Gambia Prisons Amendment Bill – SoNA 2023
President Adama Barrow has made a revelation that his government has approved the Gambia Prisons Amendment Bill, 2023 which is to help establish The Gambia Prisons Services and for The Gambia Prison Service Council to be able to regulate the prisons.
The president made these revelations while delivering his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) speech at the National Assembly building in Banjul on Thursday
He pointed out that the sector is working on the Constitutional Review Process.
“The process is guided by relevant legal and legislative considerations as well as our national interests. For now, it is essential to determine the necessary legislative amendments to support the next phase of the review process.” He also indicated that the
Ministry of Justice appointed twelve State Counsels in the beginning of the year and it’s objective is to decentralize the legal services by designating some of the State Counsels to various regions of The Gambia. This he said is to provide speedy and accessible justice delivery service to the public.
He further told the lawmakers that social services, employment, trade, and food security will be his government’s top priority to provide solutions to those challenges.
“Infrastructure development, social services, digitization, production, vulnerable groups (particularly women, the youth and the physically challenged), employment, trade, food security, and energy are among the many issues that my administration gives sustained attention and priority. All of them feature vividly in my address. Our focus will strategically be on the people in order to build on our achievements,” Barrow said.
Turning to the Judiciary sub-sector, Barrow said that 11,568 new cases were filed across all the courts and tribunals in the country in 2022, which represents a significant increase of 30% from the 8882 cases for 2021. Altogether, 6,800 cases, representing 58%, were disposed of, thus marking an increase of 1,978 out of the 4822 cases disposed of in 2021.
After delivering his government’s works and accomplishments of the past year, he renewed his willingness and commitment to serving the Gambian people with a clear vision and attainable programmes as stated by the president.
