Gambia’s Vice President, Badara Joof is Dead
By Boniface Ihiasota, USA
Gambia’s Vice President, Badara Joof, has died in India after a short illness, according to a tweet from President Adama Barrow.
Barrow wrote: “Fellow #Gambians, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing away of my #VicePresident, His Excellency, Badara Alieu Joof. The sad event took place in India after a short illness. May Allah grant him Jannahtul Firdawsi.
The President expressed his condolences and stated that Joof had previously served as the Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology from 2017 to 2022.
Joof began his career as a qualified teacher, teaching English at The Gambia College. He was then head of the department of languages and literature at Nusrat High School.
He was the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education for many years.
In March 2002, it was reported that he had been transferred to the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Local Government and Lands.
Joof worked as the World Bank Liaison Officer to the Gambia. In this role, he assisted higher education minister Mariama Sarr-Ceesay in introducing a new education policy to the Gambia. He also urged the Gambian tourism sector to “move from routine tourism and be more proactive.”
He had led a World Bank project, Support to NGO Network Tango, which had a budget of $220,000 and lasted from 2010 to 2013, the stated purpose of which was “to enhance the efficiency and accountability of non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) in delivering basic services to the poor in the member country.”
In 2013, Joof visited various project sites in the Gambia along with Ministry of Agriculture officials to gain a better understanding of various challenges they faced.
In 2014, Joof was appointed as an Education Specialist in Dakar, Senegal to the World Bank.
Badara Alieu Joof previously served as Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology from 2017 to 2022 until his appointment as Gambia’s Vice President in the same year.
