The Vice President of the Gambia Allieu Badara Joof is dead.
Joof died in India where he was seeking treatment after a short illness, President Adama Barrow announced on Wednesday.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announced the passing away of my Vice President, His Excellency, Badara Alieu Joof,” the statement shared via the official Facebook page of President Adama Barrow reads.
Mr Joof is the first Gambian Vice President to die in office. It was not immediately clear what he was suffering from at the time of his death.
Unconfirmed reports of his ill health began circulating in December, 2022. He stopped appearing in public shortly after he returned from a visit to the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus in December.
Joof, a career teacher, served as Minister of Higher Education in the Barrow administration from 22 February 2017 to 4 May 2022, when he was appointed Vice President, following the re-election of President Barrow in December 2021.
Joof became the fourth person to hold the second highest political position in the West African country since the December 2017 disputed elections that ended the rule of former strongman, Yahya Jammeh.
Joof was seen by many Gambians as their favorite politician, largely for his pro-poor views in government.
“The civil service is the engine of ideas, the engine of programs, (and) the engine of projects. But also the implementers of those projects, programs and ideas. It cannot be business as usual in the civil service. We must deliver to the Gambian people,” he was quoted in a famous statement during a meeting with senior civil servants, including fellow cabinet members. BY DAILY NATION