The Gambia’s internal security is now in the hands of President Adama Barrow’s longstanding friend, Ebrima Mballow.

The 51-year-old, who was the governor of the West Coast Region, was appointment as interior minister on Monday following the redeployment of Habib Saihou Drammeh to the Office of the President and appointed Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service.

According to reliable sources, Mballow and the president are close friends. They are both from the Upper River Region and spent part of their childhood together.

The new minister, who once served in the defunct Gambia National Gendarmerie, was the Operation Manager at the Arab Gambia Islamic Bank before Barrow’s shock election victory.

He attended Armitage High School in Janjanbureh and later travelled to the United Kingdom to further his education.

Mballow is married with children and lives in Nema Kunku Algasum.