Gambia’s President Powers gender balancing, swears in female VP

Gambian president, Adama Barrow have intensified discussion on gender balancing and equality with his recent appointment of a woman Vice president and her subsequent swearing into office on Friday 10th November.

President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, officially appointed Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang as his vice-president. The president made the announcement via his Twitter handle on Thursday, 9th, November 2017.

Africanews report revealed that the Gambian president, named her his vice in January this year after beating long-serving Yahya Jammeh in elections last December.

The appointment was, however, mired in controversy as the nominee was said to have exceeded the age limit to hold the office.

Local media reports indicate that the necessary legal rectifications were done in order to properly allow her to occupy the post. The president described her as ‘a woman with wealth of experience highly required for rebuilding the New Gambia.’

Photos from the presidency showed Barrow handing her a legal document after which she is seen appending her signature to a register.

Barrow himself took two oaths of office, first in Senegal where he was based at the height of the political crisis with Jammeh’s refusal to leave. The second was post-Jammeh, on a date that coincided with the country’s independence.

Mrs Tambajang, who was a former United Nations Development Program (UNDP) gender/development expert also served as a cabinet minister in the government of Yahya Jammeh. She was Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women’s Affairs.

She replaces Isatou Njie-Saidy – Jammeh’s deputy since 1997. Isatou resigned in early January at the height of the political uncertainty that gripped the tiny West African country.

Jammeh citing irregularities in the polls had unilaterally canceled the outcome of the election.