Sirra Wally Ndow-Njie (also Ndow Njai) is a

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

n politician. She has served as

Minister of Energy An energy minister is a position in many governments responsible for energy production and regulation, developing governmental energy policy, scientific research, and natural resources conservation. In some countries, environmental responsibilities ...

, Minister of Petroleum, and Deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture. In June 2016 she was arrested on economic crime charges and detained in prison until the charges were dropped in April 2017.

Political career

Ndow-Njie served on the National Planning Commission in April 2008 and was deputy-director of Gambia's National Water & Electricity Company. From 25 December 2009 to 10 June 2010, she served in the cabinet of Gambian president

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...

as Minister of Energy. She was appointed an Officer of the National Order of the Republic of The Gambia in January 2010 in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of independence and 15th anniversary of

1994 Gambian coup d'état In the 1994 Gambian coup d'état, a group of soldiers led by 29-year-old Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless coup d'état on the morning of 22 July, ousting Dawda Jawara, who had been President of the Gambia since its independence ...

. Ndow-Njie was then reappointed to the cabinet as Minister of Petroleum on 16 February 2015. On 2 April 2010 she met

Kim Yong-nam Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

, President of the Presidium of the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

during a goodwill visit to Gambia. Ndow-Njie was removed as Petroleum Minister by Jammeh and made Deputy Minister for Tourism and Culture in June 2016.

Criminal charges and acquittal

On 20 June 2016 she was removed from her ministerial post and charged with economic crimes. It was alleged that Ndow-Njie and nine others within her department and the national petroleum company had "intentionally caused detriment to the economy of The Gambia between 2015 and 2016". Specific charges included making $7 million of payments to March Trading, an allegedly fraudulent petroleum company, and spending 3.5 million

dalasi The dalasi is the currency of the Gambia that was adopted in 1971. It is subdivided into 100 bututs. It replaced the Gambian pound at a rate of 1 pound = 5 dalasis, i.e. 1 dalasi = 0.2 pound = 4 shillings. The derivative of ''dala'' is unknown. ...

s on a trip to visit the company in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. Ndow-Njie was remanded in custody and denied all bail, in an unusual move supposedly at the request of Jammeh. During this time she was held in Gambia's Mile Two Prison, where she was said to have suffered from a poor diet and low standards of medical care. The prosecution against her and all others accused was dropped in April 2017, coming after the replacement of Jammeh by President

Adama Barrow Adama Barrow ( ff, 𞤀𞥄𞤣𞤢𞤥𞤢 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤪𞤮, Aadama Baaro, born 15 February 1965) is a Gambian politician and real estate developer who has served as President of the Gambia since 2017. Born in Mankamang Kunda, a village ...

Personal life

Ndow-Njie is married to Basiru Njie, a civil servant at the

Central Bank of The Gambia The Central Bank of The Gambia is the central bank of The Gambia. Its name is abbreviated to CBG. The bank is located in Banjul and was established in 1971. Buah Saidy is the current Governor. Operations As a central bank, CBG is responsible ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ndow-Njie, Sirra Wally Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Government ministers of the Gambia Women government ministers of the Gambia