Ailing Gambian Vice-President Dies In India

New Delhi: The Gambia Vice President Badara Alieu Joof passed away on Wednesday in India due to sickness, informed President Adama Barrow.

In 2022, Joof, 65, was named vice president of the nation in West Africa. From 2017 to 2022, he was the education minister.

Joof passed away “after a short illness,” according to Barrow’s tweet, but he didn’t elaborate or say when.

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.

— President Barrow (@BarrowPresident) January 18, 2023

The vice president, who had not been seen in public for months prior to the trip, departed The Gambia around three weeks ago to receive medical treatment.

Joof was Barrow’s second deputy since the president’s re-election in 2021 and the fourth since his historic victory against previous strongman Yahya Jammeh in 2016. Barrow was sworn in the following year.

The late vice president used his knowledge from his stint as minister of higher education, research, science, and technology to his earlier employment in the Gambian civil service and afterwards at the World Bank as an education specialist for West and Central Africa.