Mrs. Belinda Bidwell, former Speaker of the National Assembly, died in the early hours of Saturday morning, 28th April 2007 in Fajara after a slight heart attack, The Point has been reliably informed.

Mrs. Bidwell, 72, served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Gambia from April 2006 to January 2007.
“This is shocking because nobody expected it. She was active doing everything for herself,” said one of the sons of the deceased, adding that Mrs. Bidwell was scheduled to travel to the United States by the following week as the visa had already been processed.
Prior to her appointment as Speaker of the National Assembly, Mrs. Bidwell spent a number of years in the teaching field, teaching first at St. Joseph’s Senior Secondary School before moving on to Armitage High School where she taught for few years.

She then left for further studies at Reading University in Oxford, England, where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies.
From Reading University, Mrs. Bidwell proceeded to the University of Chicago in the United States, where she pursued her education on Environmental Studies in the early 1970s.

Upon completion, she came back to The Gambia and taught at Gambia College for sometime before her retirement. After few years retirement, she came back to the teaching field and taught mathematics at St. Augustine’s Junior Secondary School on voluntary basis.
Following her disengagement from this venture, she was appointed Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly in which capacity she served until her appointment as Speaker following the removal of Mr. Sheriff Mustapha Dibba, the then Speaker.

Meanwhile, funeral arrangements of the late Mrs. Belinda Bidwell will be announced later.