Claim: Honorable Seedy Njie at an event of the 145th IPU General Assembly that took place in Rwanda, said that the government of the Gambia under the leadership of his Excellency President Adama Barrow is a staunch advocate and champion of gender equality and women empowerment on the 13th of October, 2022
Source: Facebook (account of Hon. Seedy Njie)
Findings: Honorable Seedy Njie, deputy speaker of the National Assembly of The Gambia addressed the 145th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly in Kigali under the theme “Gender equality and gender-sensitive parliaments as drivers of change for a more resilient and peaceful world”. He mentioned that the government of the Gambia under the leadership of President Adama Barrow is a staunch advocate of gender equality and women empowerment.
While the government of the Gambia amongst some African countries had ensured the incorporation of international instruments which seek to protect and promote women, like the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), The Maputo Protocol among others, there has not been a clear reflection of the provisions of this conventions in the Gambia.
For example in 2020 a draft constitution which had some innovative provisions to address the challenge of the women’s equal representation in the political processes, section 32(2) of the draft constitution explicitly forbids discriminatory treatment based on gender, section 55 further provides for equal treatment between men and women: equal political, economic and social opportunities. Section 74 further sets out the general principles for the electoral system including fair representation of all genders and elective public bodies. The draft constitution also provides a quota system of 14 seats in parliament for women. However, the bill was rejected in September 22nd, 2020. Read further (https://blog-iacl-aidc.org/new-blog-3/2022/1/25/womens-political-participation-in-the-gambia-gender-quotas-as-fast-track-to-equality-b5a94)
Subsequently the civil society used progressive provisions to enhance the legal framework, Honorable fatoumatta Njai, NAM of Banjul south and other development partners partnered to develop a private bill to increase women representation in the National assembly. A private bill is usually introduced into the assembly by a parliamentarian who is not a cabinet member and is not acting on behalf of the executives as per the provision of section 101(1) of the 1997 constitution. The bill proposed for the increment of the National Assembly seats from 58 to 71, reserving 16 for women, 14 elected, and persons with disabilities to elect one amongst themselves and the President to appoint one.
The proposed private bill was also rejected after it suffered a second chance of voting as a result of inadequate number of law makers present at the National assembly to decide on the bill.https://www.voicegambia.com/2022/02/22/hon-toumas-private-member-bill-suffers-another-voting-chance/
Women make up 51% of the Gambian population and we currently have less than 6% representation of women. The number of women involved in decision making in 2017 when President Barrow assumed office has declined compared to the number of women we have in government in 2022.
In 2017 the Gambia had 6 women in parliament 3 of which were appointed by the President. The speaker in the person of Mariam Jack Denton, Ndey Yassin Secka Sallah- a visually impaired woman and Ya Kumba Jaiteh. The elected female NAMs were Fatoumatta Njai, Kaddy Camara and Fatou k. Jawara. Subsequently Ya Kumba Jaiteh an appointed member was removed by the President. She took the matter to judicial level because her removal was unconstitutional, won the case and got re-appointed.
In 2017 the cabinet comprised of 23 ministries, out of which 4 were women. Fatoumatta Tambajang as Vice President, Isatou Touray as Minister of Health, later moved to Vice President, Saffie Lowe Ceesay as Minister of Health and Claudiana Cole as Minister of Basic and Secondary Education. The Director of press and public relations (spokesperson) was also a woman. The Permanent representative to the EU Teneng Mba Jaiteh was also a woman and similarly the ambassadors to India and Russia.
In 2022 the level of inclusion compared to when the regime of President Barrow began, the Gambia has experienced a decrement in Women inclusion in governance. In 2022 the number of women in Parliament went down from 6 women to 5, 2 of which were appointed by the president and 3 voted in by their various constituences. The women in the cabinet has gone from 4 to 3, leaving with them the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Environment. The High Commissioner to UK is now a woman (Fatou Bom Bensouda).
The Vice Presidency has shifted from being occupied by a female to a male, the position of Speaker to the National Assembly has also shifted from being woman held to being handled by a man and similarly the ambassadors to India and Russia which are now men.
Conclusion.
Research and data has shown the amount of women in leadership positions has reduced from 2017 to 2022. Both in parliament and the cabinet. The failure of the bill that aimed to allocate specific seats for women and the differently abled has fail in parliament and the reduction of women in cabinet shows that the Gambian government does not have the political will or is it “a staunch advocate and champion of gender equality and women empowerment.” Therefore the claim made by Hon. Seedy Njie is misleading.
