Tuti Faal, also known as Tuti Faal Jammeh (born c. 1952 in ) is a former

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

of the

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

n country of

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 ...

. As the first wife of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Yahya Jammeh, she was the First Lady from 1994 until her divorce in 1998.

Biography

Tuti Faal's family came from

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

. Faal worked for Gambian communications company,

Gambia Telecommunications Company The Gambia Telecommunications Company Ltd., also known by Gamtel for short, is the principal telecommunications company of the Gambia. It is a state company, charged with the task of overseeing the provision of telecommunications and internet serv ...

(GAMTEL). Yahya Jammeh married Tuti Faal in September 1994, a few months after his successful coup. It was Jammeh's first marriage. Tuti Faal spoke at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

World Conference on Women in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in 1995 regarding the situation of women in Gambia. In October 1997, she travelled to the United States with her husband on an official trip abroad. Since she remained childless during their marriage, President Jammeh is said to have sent her to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

in 1998 for gynecological examinations. In December 1998, he married

Zeinab Jammeh Zeinab Suma Jammeh (born ) is the former First Lady of the Gambia and the main wife of the former President of the Gambia, Yahya Jammeh. In September 2019, the results of the Janneh Commission, a committee of inquiry set up by the Barrow govern ...

and divorced Tuti Faal while she was still abroad for medical treatment. After the divorce, Tuti Faal left the presidential

State House State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and settled in her home village of . She later spent two years in

before returning to Gambia in early 2006. The Gambian press reported that Jammeh had a house built for her and visited her there regularly. There were also rumors of a new marriage to Jammeh. In 2015, she applied for

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and moved to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faal, Tuti Living people Date of birth unknown Year of birth unknown First Ladies of the Gambia Gambian emigrants to the United States Gambian people of Mauritanian descent People from West Coast Division (The Gambia)