Samuel Horton Jones (politician, 1909)

Samuel Horton Oluwole Jones often just SHO Jones CBE (born November 16, 1909 in Bathurst , † 1990 in Nigeria [probably]) was a doctor and politician in the British colony of Gambia .

Life

Origin and education

Jones was born on November 16, 1909 (according to another source, 1910) to Maryann Gabbidon and Horton Jones , both of whom were wealthy Aku merchants in Bathurst at the turn of the century . He attended Dobson Street School and followed the rich Akus' children by going to Freetown to complete his high school. He completed his Cambridge Senior Examinations at the CMS Grammar School and during his graduation in 1927, guest speaker John Middleton , Governor of The Gambia, discovered him and was so impressed by his performance that he offered young Jones a half-government scholarship to study medicine in the UK. With the support of his mother, he completed his medical and surgical studies at the University of Manchester in 1934 and obtained a diploma in tropical medicine in 1936. He then returned to Bathurst.

Activity as a medic

Jones was only the second doctor trained in the Gambia at the time. He spent many years in the new Bansang hospital as a medical officer and was taken on by Dr. Richards was transferred to Bwiam in 1946 as Medical Officer for Kombo and Foni . During his tenure as a medical officer at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Bathurst (now: Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital ) from 1948 to 1955, the hospital, which was founded in 1854, was renovated and expanded to one hundred and eighty beds. It then had three doctors, a dentist, 85 nurses, and 60 midwives in 1954.

Due to his commitment, Dr. Jones was appointed Director of Medical Services in August 1952 . One observer celebrated his promotion and described him as "one of the most successful doctors in The Gambia and an ardent authority leader". He was thus one of the first important Gambian civil servants when the colonial authorities were already striving to make their colonies independent and to replace the Europeans with qualified Gambians as heads of the most important government departments. Indeed, in 1952, observers found that the changes in the representation of Africa in the government in Gambia were taking place more quickly than in other colonies in West Africa. The customs, postal, treasury and veterinary departments were all headed by Africans. Dawda Jawara , who became director of veterinary services in 1956, was another beneficiary of this directive. The labor shortage in Britain caused by World War II made it necessary for Britain to withdraw its skilled personnel to help rebuild after the war, rather than deploy it in the colonies. This was the reason for the Africanization. The major government committees and councils, however, were still largely composed of European members.

As a director, Jones made important contributions to the development of the medical sector, particularly malaria, tuberculosis and leprosy research. He also decentralized medical facilities so that when he retired in June 1964 there were ten health centers and 30 pharmacies in provincial towns. John Andrew Mahoney succeeded him as Director of Medical Services .

Political activity

From 1952 to 1962 Jones served on the Legislative Council and from 1952 to 1960 he served as a senior Gambian official on the Executive Council . Because of his experience in politics, he was asked to organize the 1960 elections , which saw universal suffrage for adults for the first time. All political parties, including those that did not win, welcomed the results.

His third foray into politics came in 1972 when he was nominated as Speaker of Parliament in the House of Representatives . During this time the decline of the United Party (UP) led to the situation of a de facto one-party system. Jones carried out the expulsion of opposition leader Pierre Sarr N'Jie from the House of Representatives - which led to the Bathurst North by -election . In the middle of the 1972–1977 electoral term, the opposition role was taken over by the new National Convention Party (NCP) under the leadership of former PPP minister Sheriff Dibba .

Jones retired from public life in 1977 and passed away in 1990.

Awards and honors

• 1956 - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
• 1957 - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Perfect, David, 1960-: Historical dictionary of the Gambia . Fifthition edition. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland 2016, ISBN 978-1-4422-6522-6 , pp. 249-250 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Hassoum Ceesay: Patriots: profiles of eminent Gambians . Global Hands Publishing, Leicester 2015, ISBN 978-0-9574073-6-7 , pp. 162-169 .
3. ↑ Search Result. In: co.uk. www.thegazette.co.uk, accessed September 18, 2019 .  
4. ↑ Search Result. In: co.uk. www.thegazette.co.uk, accessed September 18, 2019 .