By Sekou Hydara
Ahmadou Lamin Samateh, Minister of Health has reacted to allegations made against his ministry by former President Yahya Jammeh, revealing that the former President himself is responsible for any failures registered by the sector.
Mr. Samateh made this reaction at Denton Bridge where he join members of ‘Gambia for Five Years’ in his capacity as citizen during their protest on Sunday for President Adama Barrow to stay in power till 2021 against the Coalition 2016, agreement that calls on him to serve for three years.
On Friday January, 2020, former President Yahya Jammeh who is currently in exiled in Equatorial Guinea criticised Gambian health sector, disclosing that the health sector is dilapidated to an extent that even frogs are no longer safe.
“I haven’t listened to Jammeh’s speech I was told about it but what remains the truth is that if there is any problem at the health sector is the responsibility of the ex-president. The whole problem we are encountering at the health sector is all caused by Jammeh’s himself, sometimes when we go on tour I could not keep quite I explained it to the people to understand that the destruction on the health sector is the handy work of Yahya Jammeh,” Minister Samateh pointed out.
He disclosed that the health sector has improved significantly since the departure of Yahya Jammeh to exile, adding that maternal mortality has dropped more specialists available at the health centers as well as doctors, nurses and more health facilities built across the country.
He said contrary to Jammeh’s assertion that the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) is more effective and vibrant than during Jammeh’s time, noting that today the EFSTH has more specialists and drugs available than any other time in the country’s history.
“Maternal Mortality has dropped significantly than most of the countries in the sub-region including Senegal and Sierra Leone and I think this is a great achievement for our health sector. I want to believe that Jammeh is just jealous of the gains registered in the sector within this three years because the achievement registered is more than what he was able to do in the whole of his 22 years in power,” Ahmadou Lamin Samateh revealed.
Health Minister Samateh harps part of the blame on former First Lady Zainab Souma Jammeh for the difficulties encountered in the health sector, revealing that the First Lady wasted lots of money on chartered flights just to see a dentist in France.
“We (health officials) realized that during Jammeh’s time anytime his wife has toothache he Jammeh will hired a chartered flight at the cost of fifteen million. Imagine Jammeh spending three hundred thousand dollars ($300, 000) equivalent to fifteen million dalasi to fly his wife to France just to see a dentist and with this kind of reckless spending how do you expect the health sector to thrive?” Minister Samateh rhetorically asked.
He added: “What he was spending on Jainab to get treatment if he was putting that in the health sector he wouldn’t be complaining of poor health in the country. I think Jammeh has nothing to complain, he should just be blaming himself for his under performance in the health sector.”
