Momadu Lamin Saho

Momadu Lamin Saho (born December 12, 1932 in Bathurst , † 1993 ) was a Gambian politician of the Progressive People's Party PPP ( People's Progressive Party ) , who was between 1968 and 1982 Attorney General and Minister of Justice .

Life

Momadu Lamin Saho was from the people of Wolof derived Muslim and the son of a Koran -Gelehrten. He attended Methodist Boys' High School between 1946 and 1951 and began his professional career in 1949 as an employee of the Department of Agriculture. He then completed his studies at Fourah Bay College in Freetown and after its completion, on his return in January 1955, was an administrative officer in the colony of British Gambia . After he was a district commissioner between 1957 and 1958, he was appointed deputy permanent secretary of the Department of Agriculture in 1959 and also served as general secretary of the Association of Senior Civil Servants' Association ( SCSA ) . He also completed a law degree at the University of London with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). After the general strike was called by the trade union federation GWA (Gambia Workers' Association) in January 1961, the SCSA protested against the tough crackdown on the colonial administration and demanded the establishment of a commission of inquiry. Thereupon he was initially on leave and, after refusing to support the colonial administration, finally dismissed in May 1961.

Then sat Saho his studies in law at the University of London where she received in 1963 his legal admission as a lawyer ( barrister ) to the Bar ( Inns of Court ) from Middle Temple . He then returned to Gambia and took up a position as a lawyer in Bathurst . In 1968 he was appointed as a member of the People's Progressive Party ( PPP ) to succeed Phillip Rodney Bridges as Attorney General . He was for it also necessarily a member of the House of Representatives in 1968 ( House of Representatives ) appointed. Two changes to the law were necessary for this: on the one hand, the number of appointed members of parliament had to be increased from two to four, and on the other hand, the office of attorney general had to be raised to a ministerial office. Both bills were unsuccessfully criticized by the opposition United Party (UP) and renegade PPP members. After completing these two legislative changes, he was appointed attorney general and minister of justice in the Jawara I cabinet . He then held this office in the second , third and fourth Jawara cabinet until May 1982. As a member of the so-called "Banjul Mafia" he was later accused by Sheriff Dibba of having steered his fall as Vice President of Gambia in 1975 .

During the Kukoi Samba Sanyang uprising from July 30 to August 5, 1981, Momadu Lamin Saho played a leading role in organizing the resistance of the government of President Dawda Jawara . He was later accused of being instrumental in the mass arrests of civilians and the associated high treason trials after the unsuccessful uprising. He was also involved in the treaties establishing the Senegambia Confederation , a confederation of the West African states of Senegal and Gambia, which existed from February 1, 1982 to September 30, 1989.

In the elections on May 4 and 5, 1982 Saho ran for the PPP as the successor to the previous PPP candidate Horace R. Monday, Sr. in the constituency of Banjul Central for an elected mandate in the House of Representatives. With 1797 votes (53.28 percent) he was only just able to prevail against the UP applicant Kebba W. Foon (1576 votes, 46.72 percent). It was originally expected that he would succeed Assan Musa Camara as Vice President. However, after this post had fallen to Bakary Bunja Dabo on May 12, 1982 , he was only offered the post of Minister of Local Government and Lands. He initially accepted this, but renounced his appointment the following day. He then resumed his practice as a lawyer and criticized President Jawara in newspaper interviews. On February 7, 1986, he resigned from the People's Progressive Party (PPP) after the former Vice President Assan Musa Camara had resigned from the party three days earlier on February 4, 1987. In the elections on March 11, 1987 , he decided not to run again in the constituency of Banjul Central , which has now been won by Ebrima AB N'Jie .

Web links

• David Perfect: Historical Dictionary of The Gambia , p. 371, Rowman & Littlefield, 2016

Individual evidence

1. ^ David Perfect: Historical Dictionary of The Gambia , p. XLIV, Rowman & Littlefield, 2016

See also

• List of Members of the Gambian Parliament (1982–1987)