Vice President Badara Joof of The Gambia is dead.
President Adama Barrow, who disclosed this in a tweet, announced that the tragic incident happened in India.
“Fellow #Gambians, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing away of my #VicePresident, His Excellency, Badara Alieu Joof. The sad event took place in India after a short illness. May Allah grant him Jannahtul Firdawsi,” he tweeted.
The vice-president died after a short illness. The president neither mentioned the time of his death nor state whether he was receiving treatment in India.
According to his profile on Wikipedia, Joof was a student at Armitage High School and trained as a teacher himself at Yundum Teachers’ College.
He held a bachelor of education degree from the University of Bristol, a master’s degree in English literature from the University of London, and a master’s degree in development economics from the University of Bath.
Joof began his career as a qualified teacher, teaching English at The Gambia College.
He was then head of the department of languages and literature at Nusrat High School. He was the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education for many years.
In March 2002, it was reported that he had been transferred to the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Local Government and Lands.
Joof worked as the World Bank Liaison Officer to the Gambia. In this role, he assisted higher education minister Mariama Sarr-Ceesay in introducing a new education policy to the Gambia.
In 2013, Joof visited various project sites in the Gambia along with Ministry of Agriculture officials to gain a better understanding of various challenges they faced.
In 2014, Joof was appointed as an Education Specialist in Dakar, Senegal to the World Bank.
On 22 February 2017, President Barrow appointed Joof as his Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology.
