The department of religious affairs has been transferred to the Office of the President, according to a press release from the Office of the President, State House, Banjul.  

The release also announced the "immediate" dismissal of both the permanent secretary responsible for religious affairs at the department of state for Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs, Alasan Jammeh, and the Amir-Ul-Hajj, Alhaji Kebba Landing Sanyang.  

This development, according to the release, is a response by Gambia government to the "very poor arrangement of the 2008 Hajj which led to the stranding of Gambian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for about three weeks after the Hajj, and the resultant hardships endured by our pilgrims in the Holy Land."

The release added that while the pilgrims were left stranded in Saudi, "the Government of The Gambia had to intervene at a huge financial cost to bring our pilgrims safely back home. Consequently, government is working on a number of measures to prevent a repeat of this undesirable situation."

Further measures, the release concludes, will follow in due course.