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Sir
Dawda Jawara
GCMG
Jawara in 1979
1st President of the Gambia
In office 24 April 1970 – 22 July 1994
Vice President
Sheriff Mustapha Dibba Assan Musa Camara Alhajie Alieu Badara Njie Bakary Bunja Darbo Saihou Sabally
Preceded by
Elizabeth II as Queen of the Gambia
Succeeded by
Yahya Jammeh
Vice President of Senegambia
In office 12 December 1981 – 30 September 1989
President
Abdou Diouf
Prime Minister of the Gambia
In office 12 June 1962 – 24 April 1970
Monarch
Elizabeth II
Governors General
Sir John Paul Sir Farimang Singhateh
Governor
Sir John Paul (1962–1965)
Preceded by
Pierre Sarr N'Jie
Succeeded by
Office abolished
Personal details
Born
Dawda Kairaba Jawara
(1924-05-16)16 May 1924 Barajally, MacCarthy Island Division, British Gambia
Died
27 August 2019(2019-08-27) (aged 95) Fajara, Bakau, The Gambia
Political party
People’s Progressive Party (PPP)
Spouses
Augusta Mahoney
(m. 1955; div. 1967)
Chilel N'Jie
(m. 1968)
Njaimeh M'Boge
(m. 1970)
Children
Bolumbo Jawara
Alma mater
University of Glasgow University of Liverpool University of Edinburgh
Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara[1]GCMG (16 May 1924 – 27 August 2019[2][3]) was a Gambian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of The Gambia from 1970 to 1994, when he was deposed.
Jawara was born in Barajally, MacCarthy Island Division, the son of Mamma Fatty and Almami Jawara. He was educated at the Methodist Boys' School in Banjul (Bathurst) and then attended Achimota College in Ghana. He trained as a veterinary surgeon at the University of Glasgow's School of Veterinary Medicine, then completed his training at the University of Liverpool and the University of Edinburgh. He returned to The Gambia in 1953 and married Augusta Mahoney, beginning work as a veterinary officer. He entered politics and became secretary of the new People's Progressive Party (PPP) and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1960 election. He became the leader of the PPP and then the country's first Prime Minister in 1962, only the second-ever head of government following Pierre Sarr N'Jie's term as Chief Minister.
Under Jawara, The Gambia gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1965. He remained as Prime Minister and Elizabeth II remained as head of state as Queen of The Gambia. In 1970, The Gambia became a republic, and Jawara was elected as its first President. The greatest challenge to Jawara's power came in 1981 when an attempted coup d'état took place and soldiers from neighbouring Senegal were forced to intervene, with 400 to 800 deaths reported by the end of the coup attempt. Following the coup attempt, Jawara and Senegalese President Abdou Diouf announced the creation of the Senegambia Confederation, but it proved to be short-lived and ultimately collapsed eight years later in 1989.
Jawara continued to rule until 1994 when a coup d'état led by Yahya Jammeh seized power. Following this, he went into exile, but returned in 2002, and lived in retirement in The Gambia until his death in 2019.
^Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 March 1966 [in] The London Gazette, Honours and Awards, 11 March 1966 [1]
^Profile of Dawda Kairaba Jawara
^Shaban, Abdur Rahman Alfa (27 August 2019). "The Gambia's first president, Dawda Jawara, dies aged 95 - Presidency". Africanews. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara GCMG (16 May 1924 – 27 August 2019) was a Gambian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first...
include: Augusta Jawara (1924-1981), Gambian nurse, playwright and activist for women's rights Bomba Jawara, Sierra Leonean politician DawdaJawara (born 1924)...
in 1965, The Gambia gained independence under the leadership of DawdaJawara. Jawara ruled until Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup, with...
and deputy director of public prosecutions in February 1994 for Sir DawdaJawara's government. She played a central role in the early years of Gambian...
for women's rights. She was the first wife (from 1955 to 1967) of Sir DawdaJawara, Prime Minister of the Gambia. Hannah Augusta Darling Mahoney was born...
a bloodless coup d'etat that overthrew the elected government of Sir DawdaJawara. At first ruling by decree, he was elected president in the 1996 election...
1970. The position was only held by two people, Pierre Sarr N'Jie and DawdaJawara. Political parties United Party (PP) People's Progressive Party (PPP)...
Chilel, Lady Jawara (née N'Jie; born 1952) is a former First Lady of the Gambia and widow of the late President Sir DawdaJawara. Chilel Jawara is the daughter...
Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center is a 14,000 square meters conference center in The Gambia, located in Kombo North/Saint Mary....
13 – Giovanni Sartori, Italian political scientist (d. 2017) May 16 – DawdaJawara, 1st President of the Gambia (d. 2019) May 22 – Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian...
This fear was realized during the 1981 coup attempt to oust President DawdaJawara of the Gambia. Though the coup attempt was not well organized and quickly...
which the effigy of DawdaJawara was dropped and replaced with the national coat of arms on the obverses. However, older Jawara era coins still commonly...
when the Gambia became a republic and has been held by three people: DawdaJawara, who ruled from 1970 until 1994, Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a...
became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations, with DawdaJawara as Prime Minister. The economy of The Gambia, like other African countries...
disaffected staff of the Gambia Field Force. At the time, President DawdaJawara was in the United Kingdom attending the wedding of Prince Charles and...
overthrew the democratically elected Gambian government of President Sir DawdaJawara. The arch stands on the Banjul-Serrekunda Highway, near the traffic island...
the government of DawdaJawara. Sanyang was born in the village of Wassadu in the district of Foni Jarrol. On 31 July 1981, while Jawara was abroad, a 12-member...
The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with DawdaJawara as its first President. 1979 – Blair Peach, a British activist, died...
former US Ambassador, and formerly the home town of the late Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, a former Prime Minister of the Gambia and the first President of...
President DawdaJawara changed his mind and ran for the position again. Both elections were won by the ruling People's Progressive Party (PPP), with Jawara remaining...
Chief Minister from 1961 to 1962, though following the 1962 election DawdaJawara became Prime Minister, beginning the People's Progressive Party's dominance...
for leading a failed insurrection in 1981 against the government of DawdaJawara. The GSRP was formed in early 1980 by Gibril L George and subsequently...
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