President Adama Barrow has appointed Sheikh Omar Faye, a former diplomat, as the new Defence Minister of The Gambia.

Mr Faye was The Gambia’s Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the first Defence minister of the Barrow administration. The president was overseeing the department until this latest appointment.

In similar vein the president also appointed Yankuba Sonko, the former Inspector General of Police, as the new Interior minister. He replaced the controversial Ebrima Mballow who was sacked on Thursday in a ‘minor’ cabinet reshuffle. The Secretary General and head of the Civil Service, Ebrima O. Camara, was also sacked

The president said in a statement that Mballow and Camara have been redeployed to the Foreign Service.

Mr Camara was replaced as Head of the Civil Service by Muhammed B.S. Jallow, a Permanent Secretary at the Office of the President.