She made this remark on Friday to the Gambia television at the inauguration of Jacob Zuma, whose tenure as South African president was renewed for the second term in a recent presidential election.
Madam Njie-Saidy, who is also the minister for Women’s Affairs added: “If someone wants to really get a human encyclopedia on critical issues, President Jammeh is the right person. Most of what he has been telling his counterparts at the United Nations, African Union and Ecowas levels has gained significant prominence. Some of the issues that he has been very outspoken about are what are being repeated by leaders at this [inauguration] event. He has always said Africa is in dire need of leadership. But there is a good breed of young African leaders like him who were born right after independence. They found Africa’s problem there and as a young man when he was only 29, he became leader of our country with a lot of vision and passion for development. And we have seen that translated on the ground today. He has said that Africa is not in need of resources but any resource that one can think of, Africa has it more than any other continent. So why don’t we have fair prices for our resources? This is what President Jammeh has been saying. If we fully own our resources, then it’s reasonable enough for us to determine the price. They [leaders] have summed up his words well and are now beginning to see sense in what he has been saying.”
On South Africa
Madam Njie-Saidy noted that South Africa, also known as the “rainbow nation” had made a long walk to freedom and equality, even though the black population continues to face hardships.
“President Zuma has said clearly that there’s more work to do on racism because racism and segregation still exist in the country. He still has to deal with the land tenure issue because generally land has not been accessible to most of South Africa’s black population. And yet, he has been very careful because he doesn’t want any kind of backlash. He has also raised the issue of black empowerment and poverty though he believes they’ve made a lot of gains on poverty. He said the issue of poverty will be addressed because that’s the very reason the people of South Africa have put him in office. That’s why they supported the African National Congress [ANC] over the Apartheid regime.”
By Lamin Baba Njie
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