biography
| name: |
Jawara, Sir Dawda Kairaba
|
pronunciation:
[jawahra]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1924– )
|
| biography:
| Gambian statesman, prime minister (1965–70), and president (1970–94), born in Barajally, The Gambia. He studied at Glasgow University, and returned to The Gambia to work in the national veterinary service (1957–60). He entered politics in 1960 and progressed rapidly, becoming minister of education and then premier (1962–5). When full independence was achieved in 1965, he became prime minister, and when in 1970 the country chose republican status he became its first president. He was re-elected in 1992 for his fifth consecutive term of office, having survived an abortive coup against him in 1981, but was ousted in 1994 following a military coup. |
|
|
