THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA’S COMBINED REPORT ON THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN & PEOPLES’ RIGHTS & INITIAL REPORT ON THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA Table 6: Representation at the National Assembly by Sex, 2018 Component Public Sector Indicators Sex Both Sexes Female Male Members of National Assembly (elected) 2 46 48 Members of National Assembly (nominated) Speaker of the National Assembly Deputy speaker of the National Assembly 3 2 5 1 - 1 - 1 1 6 49 55 Total Remarks As of 2015 all the eight local Government administrations (Area Councils and Municipalities) were headed by men with only one female Regional Governor. Despite their being 39 District Chiefs and 1 Paramount Chief, none of these positions are held by women. Further of the 1873 villages in the country, there are only 5 female Village Heads (Alkalolu) which although small is a notable change in traditional decision-making structure.7 Despite the continued lack of female representation in local Government, in 2018 the first female Mayor was elected in the country’s capital while two of the five governors in the country are women. Further, currently only 2 out of 18 Cabinet Ministers in the Government are occupied by women. However, since 1997 to June 2018, the position of Vice President of The Gambia had been occupied by a woman. At the National Assembly, although the current Speaker is a woman, it is disappointing to note that there are only five other female National Assembly Members two whom were elected with the rest nominated by the President. In the Judiciary and legal sector, out of a total of 20 Judges, there are currently 8 female judges in the Superior courts of The Gambia, with one sitting in the Supreme Court and one serving as President of the Court of Appeal. In the subordinate courts, 22 out of the total of 42 Magistrates are women. 61