Momodou Lamin Sedat Jobe (born July 24, 1944) was the Gambian Foreign Minister from 1998 to August 2001. He now lives in self-imposed exile in Sweden and is currently heading the pro-democracy group, the Gambia Consultative Council (GCC), which was established in 2013 and served as its president.

Early life and education

Sedat Jobe was born on 24 July 1944 in

Bansang Bansang is a town in the Central River Division of the Gambia, with a population of 8,843 (2012). Although the official government center of the Division is located in Janjanbureh downstream, Bansang has better access to the more affluent coastal ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. He completed his higher education in France, finishing with a doctorate from the

University of Grenoble The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...

in 1976.

Career

When he was not working as a career diplomat, he taught at the

University of Dakar Cheikh Anta Diop University (french: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh ...

from 1974 to 1978 and

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

from 1978 to 1980. He also worked for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

latterly as its director of culture (1981–1996, 1996–1997). He returned to the Gambian diplomatic service as an ambassador at large between 1996 and 1998 and was appointed secretary of state for external affairs in January 1998. As foreign minister, Jobe tried to lead an unsuccessful delegation to

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

to try to negotiate a settlement to the country's civil war that erupted in 1998. He resigned in August 2001, following the expulsion of the deputy British high commissioner, Bharat Joshi. He supported President

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...

in the 2006 presidential election but later turned against him. In January 2013, he called for the military to overthrow Jammeh by force, while also strongly criticizing

Mai Fatty Mai Ahmad Fatty is a Gambian politician who served as the Minister of the Interior under Adama Barrow. From 1 February to 10 November 2017 he was Minister of the Interior in President Adama Barrow's cabinet. Since 2009 he is the leader of the G ...

, the leader of the

Gambia Moral Congress The Gambia Moral Congress (abbreviated GMC) is a political party in the Gambia. The party was founded by the lawyer Mai Ahmad Fatty in 2009. The motto of the party is ''People Power for Human Rights and Economic Justice''. The GMC was part of the ...

References

1944 births Living people Foreign ministers of the Gambia {{Gambia-politician-stub