It is exactly one year today, Monday, April 28, 2008 since the late Mrs Belinda Bidwell, former speaker of the National Assembly, passed away.

The late Belinda Bidwell, born on the 22 April 1936 and died on Saturday April 28, 2007, was the first female Speaker of the National Assembly of The Gambia.

In 2002, the late Belinda Bidwell who was a renowned teacher, was nominated to serve in the National Assembly and became the deputy speaker. In April 2006, following the removal of Sheriff Mustapha Dibba as Speaker, the late Madam Bidwell became speaker.

Having served the nation diligently, she was replaced with Honourable Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay as speaker in February 2007, before she succumbed to heart attack in her Fajara residence. She died at the age of 72 and had served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of The Gambia from April 2006 to January 2007.