Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Standard about the 20th anniversary of the July 22nd Revolution to be marked tomorrow, the first female governor in The Gambia, said:: “To us the pioneer supporters, it is more than just a revolution because it has ushered in unprecedented development in the country. This unprecedented development has been brought to the doorstep of every Gambian and this is what made me a big time supporter of President Jammeh. He has shown to the world that our country is called The Gambia and not Zambia because of what he has achieved. This has earned us the respect in the world regardless of our size. Development comes in many folds including some that development experts call tangibles. Those that cannot be seen physically are called intangible development projects. But President Jammeh has been able to bridge the two components in the last two decades and Gambians can now boast of their nationality. In the past 20 years, a spirit of tolerance has been inculcated in the minds of Gambians and today, the country is very tolerant when it comes to religion which is a recipe for peace. These are intangible development indicators and we must appreciate them. Tangible development projects are what many people are interested in and one area which readily comes to mind is the level of infrastructure development. The roads that have been built have brought people closer and made the productive accessible to the markets. The economic status of the farmer has improved because his produce is brought nearer to the market thanks to the good road networks. In the area of health, the sector has witnessed marked transformation. President Jammeh has built many health care service facilities and two major hospitals. This is because for people to be able to perform their nation-building responsibility as citizens, they must be healthy. Improvements in the health sector also led to free maternal healthcare service delivery for women and pregnant women now do not pay for health care service.”
The Brikama-born governor said the revolution scored big in the area of education which was “poorly managed” under the previous government.
“Before the revolution, Gambians found it extremely hard to have access to education with some children walking almost ten kilometres to school. People used to buy tables and chairs for their children who were going to school but this is now a thing of the past. Others were reluctant to send their daughters to school because they saw no point sending them to school because they would just end up getting married. There was preference of boys over girls. President Jammeh introduced free education for girls given the fact that the country cannot move without the active participation of women. This also made women empowerment an area of focus by the government. We are happy for being part of it and since day one, my personal relationship with the president attests to this. We are happy to mark 20 years of his leadership as his supporters and I think every true Gambian who supports development irrespective of his/her political affiliation should celebrate with us.”
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