Responding to this question asked by Hon. Sainey Jawara, Member for Lower Saloum, the minister stated that: “Section 191 of the Constitution provides that there shall be a National Intelligence Agency, which shall operate under the command of the President.” However, he added: “The same section further stipulates that the NIA shall be governed by the National Intelligence Agency Act, subject to any act of the National Assembly and provisions of the constitution itself.”
“In addition, Section 2 of the National Intelligence Agency Act, statutorily establishes the NIA as referred to in the Constitution. Any changes to the name or structure of the NIA would require a legislative amendment, which must be considered and approved by this Honourable Assembly before taking effect. However, I can confirm that there is currently a draft bill addressing this issue, which was prepared following instructions from the NIA,” he explained.
“This draft bill has been sent to the National Intelligence Agency for their comments and observations, and further steps will follow in due course to ensure compliance with the necessary legal and constitutional requirements.”
The minister also said the name was changed before he was appointed, “I found it there, so I don't know what happened at the time when the name change happened,” he said.
When asked what the legal implication is of their conduct by using this word SIS before being approved by National Assembly?
The minister said that the question will require him to give a legal opinion on which he doesn’t want to do.
