“Inhumane” Mile 2 Prison to be Closed Down says Justice Minister

Hon Dawda Jallow (left) and Lamin Sey alias L Tigo (right) Photo credi Askanwi and Barra Graphics

By Fatoumata Jaiteh

Mile 2 has widely been condemned as Africa’s hell on earth by detainees fortunate to tell their harrowing stories after escaping its clutches. After one such advocate challenged the Justice Minister on the conditions of Mile 2, Hon Dawda A Jallow revealed that the government is advancing plans to construct a new prison and completely shut down the colonial-era prison.

Team Gom Sa Bopa Executive member Lamin Sey, commonly known as L Tigo, questioned the justice minister about President Adama Barrow’s government promise since 2016 to reform Mile 2. He also added that a good number of government officials have gone through the nightmarish conditions of Mile 2 during the former government, but over eight years have passed on without any meaningful reform. In his own words, government officials “know how inhumane that place is because you will not even place a dog in Mile 2.”

The question and answer session was held on 29th August 2025 during a press conference organised by government ministers responding to petitions issued by the Gambians Against Looted Assets.

The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) revealed how members of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), United Democratic Party (UDP), activists, security officers and ordinary citizens were imprisoned at Mile 2 and brutally tortured. The Commission noted that “many innocent victims, including security officers, politicians, businesspersons, journalists, and advocates, were detained at Mile II Central Prison without due process.”

Unfortunately, some of them died in detention, including nine inmates executed after orders from former President Jammeh were followed without the conclusion of due process.

One of those currently in the government, as indicated by Lamin Sey, is the nominated member, Hon. Fatoumatta Jawara, who was detained at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for protesting for electoral reforms back in April 2016. She was one of the detainees who stood with national hero Solo Sandeng, who was eventually killed at the NIA.

Hon. Jawara was eventually remanded in Mile 2, alongside the entire UDP Executive, including Hon. Ousainou Darboe, the leader of the UDP and one-time Vice President of The Gambia.

Lamin Sey - Team Gom Sa Bopa Logistic and Operations © Facebook

In response to Lamin Sey’s concerns, the Justice Minister conceded that “the prison’s conditions is bad, terrible. But this was a strong recommendation from the TRRC as well.”

Our research has revealed that the Commission highlighted that the Prison Service is “substandard, degrading and not fit for human habitation … and did not comply with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.” To address this the Commission recommended “to build new facilities that would be suitable for prisoners in a modern democratic society.”

This recommendation was accepted by the Government but also “notes the minimum standards which it is legally obligated to uphold.” However, it was followed by a vague response: “The government is committed to developing a strategy and a roadmap for the modernisation of the prison system in line with the Mandela Minimum Standard.”

To date this strategy has not been made public, but the Justice Minister made some revelations towards this when responding to Lamin Sey’s concerns, saying “as we speak at the moment the site is secured, plan has been brought to cabinet which has been endorsed. I think more than half of the funds required to start the work has also been secured. So work will start soon, so that Mile 2 prison will completely be closed down.”

In his response the Justice Minister revealed that the Minister of Interior addressed the issue of Prison Reforms during his Mansa Kunda Town Hall meeting on 22nd August 2025.

But this was not the first time that President Adama Barrow made promises about Mile 2, nor was it the first time the President has been confronted with the dire conditions in Mile 2. Back in 2016 the Coalition led by President Barrow promised to reform the prison.

According to the Coalition Agenda 2016 “within a month from assuming office the Coalition Government will set up a Commission of Inquiry into the places and conditions of detention before and after conviction with the objective of putting an end to torture, rape, inhuman and degrading punishment or treatment and poor conditions of imprisonment. The findings will provide ingredients for prison reform, upgrading of police cells and amenities such as food, sanitation, access to legal counsels and next of kin.”

Two years after the Coalition Government came into power in January 2017, Amnesty International visited President Barrow in May 2019. In a presser published after a meeting with President Barrow, Amnesty’s Marie-Evelyne Petrus Barry told the press that “the President should also provide the leadership needed to ensure that relevant authorities move swiftly to improve the dire conditions in prison facilities across the country and reform relevant legislation in line with international standards.”

The presser noted that “the situation was especially bad at Mile 2 prison, where Amnesty International documented that young boys of 15 and 16 years old were detained alongside adults for months without being brought to a court.”