Alieu Badara Saja Taal (March 22, 1944 – April 2, 2014) was a Gambian academic and politician. Taal was born in

Banjul Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

. He completed his high school education at Methodist High School before receiving his B.A.(hons) and M.A. degrees at the University of New England, Australia and a PhD at Massey University, New Zealand. After completing his education, Taal went into politics, becoming a permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Office of the President, and Ministry of Education. Taal lectured in the areas of political science, management, public administration and tourism at the

University of the Gambia The University of the Gambia (UTG) is an institution of higher education located in Sere Kunda, the largest city in the Gambia. History The campus was founded in 1998 in Kotu-Kanifing, a suburb of Sere Kunda. It was not until March 1999 that t ...

. He published several academic papers, such as the influential "Pan-Africanism - An African liberation ideology against the domination of Africans by Whites". From 2005 to 2007 Taal was the managing director of

The Daily Observer ''The Daily Observer'' is a newspaper published in Bakau in Banjul, the Gambia. The paper, Gambia's first daily newspaper,Gabriel I. H. Williams, ''Liberia: the heart of darkness'', Trafford Publishing, 2002, p.333 was founded by Mae Gene and Ke ...

. It was during his term as director that journalist

Ebrima Manneh Ebrima B. Manneh (February 18, 1978 –2008?) was a Gambian journalist who was arrested in July 2006 and secretly held in custody. In March 2019 the Gambian newspapers ''The Trumpet'' and " The Point" newspaper reported that Manneh died in mid-2 ...

disappeared without a trace. Taal provided criticism for refusing to comment on the matter. His house was robbed in 2011. Taal died on April 2, 2014, in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal. The cause of death was a

liver infection The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taal, Saja Gambian politicians Academic staff of the University of the Gambia 1944 births 2014 deaths