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

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

n politician. She has served as Minister of Energy, 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 soldier, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017. He was the Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 1994 ...

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 coup d'état on the morning of 22 July, ousting Dawda Jawara, who had been President of The Gambia since it became a Republic in ...

. 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 Yong-nam (; born 4 February 1928) is a North Korean retired politician who served as the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, from 1998 until 2019. Due to holding the office, he was considered the hea ...

, President of the Presidium of the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified ...

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

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 dalasis on a trip to visit the company in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. 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 (, born 15 February 1965) is a The Gambia, Gambian politician and real estate developer who has served as President of The Gambia since 2017. Born in Mankamang Kunda, a village in Jimara district, he attended Crab Island Secondary ...

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