Isatou N’jie-Saidy

Isatou Njie-Saidy (also spelt Aisatu N'Jie-Saidy; born 5 March 1952) is a Gambian politician. She was Vice President of the Gambia, as well as Secretary of State for Women's Affairs, from 20 March 1997 to 18 January 2017. She is the first Gambian woman to have held the position of Vice President and one of the first women in West African politics to reach this senior position.

Political career

From September 1983 to December 1989, Njie-Saidy was Deputy Executive Secretary of the Women's Bureau, the executive decision-making body of the National Women's Council. Two years after the 1994 Gambian coup d'état in which Yahya Jammeh seized power, in July 1996 Njie-Saidy was appointed as Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women's Affairs. On March 20th, 1997 a few months after the 1996 presidential election which was won President Jammeh, Njie-Saidy was appointed as Vice-President of the Gambia and Secretary of State for Health, Social Welfare and Women's Affairs.

In December 2015, Njie-Saidy's relationship with Jammeh was strained. According to Freedom Newspaper, a close aide of Jammeh reported that "Jammeh has intimated to them that he doesn't want to see Isatou Njie Saidy. He branded Isatou as a 'bad person' who contributed towards his government's failure. Jammeh told his aides that he is going to replace Isatou Njie Saidy."

On 18 January 2017, Njie-Saidy resigned in the midst of the 2016–17 constitutional crisis, along with several other government ministers.

Personal life Njie-Saidy is married and has four children. She speaks Mandinka, Fulani, Wolof, English and French.