Two Ministers Fired

Gambian president Yahya Jammeh on Friday recharged his electrical broom sweeping two ministers out of his shaky cabinet.

Mr Abdou Kolley, minister of Trade, Regional, Integration, and Employment and Mr Yusupha Kah, minister of Works, Construction and Infrastructure have been relieved of their duties with effect from Friday, March 18.

A typical fashion of president Jammeh’s regime, no reason was advanced to the public for the dismissal of the two ministers who have been recycled several times before shown the exit door on Friday.

The state-owned TV said president Jammeh relied on a constitutional provision which empowers him to fire both ministers. 

Meanwhile, Mr Abdou Kolley’s dismissal was greeted with shock for he has earned himself a national acclaim, humble and hardworking.

He was awarded "2008 Partner to the Private Sector" by the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry during its Annual Business Awards Dinner held on February 6, 2009.

Kolley 41, joined the cabinet in 2007 as minister of Trade and Employment and was appointed Finance Minister in 2009.

He was dismissed and re-hired as minister of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment in July 2010, and he was later re-assigned to the Ministry of Finance. In January 2011, he was redeployed to trade ministry. 

Yusupha Kah, 54, served as permanent secretary in various ministries; Interior, Trade, Finance and Communication and vice president’s office from 1997 until his appointment as trade minister in 2009.

Following a major cabinet reshuffle, he was deployed to the dissolved ministry of Economic Planning and was re-assigned to trade ministry in 2010.

 In January 2011, he was appointed minister of Works and Construction.