By Kemo Cham, AfricaNews
DAKAR, 16 February 2010: The Gambian government has expelled the country representative of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to the West African country, Min Whee-Kang.
An executive order served to the UN diplomat in the form of a letter officially declared her persona non grata, last week, and she was given just 72 hrs to leave the country. The South Korean born Kan reportedly left Banjul for Dakar by road.
Confirming the story, UNICEF communication specialist in Gambia, Sally Sadie-Singhateh, was quoted by online newspaper Jollofnews.com as saying that “UNICEF received a letter last week from the government stating that the Country Rep., Ms Min-Whee Kang, was no longer welcomed in The Gambia”. Sadie-Singhateh went on to say that no reason was given to justify such a decision.
This is the third time the Gambian government under President Yahya Jammeh is expelling a high profile foreign representative from the country, and it is the second time for a UN official to be asked out of the country unceremoniously.
