Sheriff Mustapha Dibba (10 January 1937 – 2 June 2008) was a veteran Gambian politician who was the 1st

Vice-President of the Gambia The vice president of the Republic of The Gambia is the second highest political position in the Gambia. The office was created in April 1970, with the passing of the republican Constitution of the Gambia following the republic referendum. The ...

(1970–1972) and also served as the country's

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speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

from 2002 to 2006. He was also leader of the National Convention Party (NCP).

Biography

Dibba was the son of Mustapha Dibba, a

Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to: Media * ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957 * ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel * ''Mandingo (play)'', a play by Jack Kir ...

chief and farmer. His father would later become the district chief of Central Baddibu in 1967. He was born in Salikene, Central Baddibu in January 1937. He was educated at Armitage High School and then at the Methodist Boys High School in Bathurst from 1955 to 1957. He briefly worked as a clerk for the

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before resigning in 1959 to work for the recently formed People's Progressive Party (PPP). There he organized the party's youth wing and was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

as representative for the Central Baddibu constituency in the 1962 election. After the 1966 elections, he was appointed as Minister of Works and Communications and replaced Sheriff Sisay as Minister of Finance of the Gambia in December 1967. When Gambia became a republic after the 1970 referendum, Dibba was appointed as vice president and continuing to serve as Finance Minister. Dibba was the Gambia's first

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

in 1970. He resigned from that position on 15 September 1972, as a result from the ''butut scandal'', which his younger brother Kutubo was arrested for smuggling Gambian currency and contraband goods to neighbouring

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

in August 1972 and found to have working out of Sheriff Dibba's official residence, No. 1 Marina. In October 1972, he was appointed as Gambia's first ambassador to the

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and in July 1974, he was recalled by President Jawara from Brussels and appointed as Minister of Economic Planning and Industrial Development. In late July 1975, Jawara accused Dibba of trying to unseat him through a cabinet revolt and Dibba was dismissed immediately. Dibba was later sacked from the PPP in August 1975. He later formed the National Convention Party (NCP) in 1975. Following elections in 1977, the NCP became the main opposition party in the Gambia. He was arrested in August 1981, along with others NCP members and activists, and incarcerated for his alleged involvement in the foiled coup attempt that year, but was freed after 11 months in detention in July 1982.along with others NCP members and activists, A

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was held on 4 May 1982, months after a constitutional amendment instituting direct election of the country's head of state. Dibba was defeated by incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Dawda Jawara Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara (16 May 1924 – 27 August 2019) was a Gambian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of the Gambia from 1970 to 1994. Jawara was born in Barajally, MacCarthy Island ...

. He ran again as the NCP presidential candidate in

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and

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, placing second to Jawara both times.Elections in The Gambia
African Elections Database. Following the overthrow of the Jawara government in 1994, the NCP and other political parties were banned. The ban on the NCP was lifted in mid-2001 and Dibba contested

the election ''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...

held on 18 October of that year. He was defeated by incumbent 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 ...

and placed fourth out of five candidates, winning 3.8% of the vote. Dibba then gave his support to Jammeh and his party, the

Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) is a political party in The Gambia. Founded by army officers who staged a coup in 1994, it was the dominant ruling party from 1996 until 2016 with president Yahya Jammeh. History ...

, and after the

legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of January 2002, he was elected Speaker of the National Assembly at the first meeting of the new legislature on 3 February. In April 2006, Dibba was arrested for nine days and dismissed as speaker; he was allegedly linked to the coup attempt against Jammeh in the previous month. Dibba himself was over 65 years old by this time and was therefore not eligible to run. Nevertheless, after his release, he reaffirmed his loyalty to President Jammeh. He later retired from politics prior to his death. He died from a heart attack at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH) in Banjul on the morning of 2 June 2008, at the age of 71, after being hospitalized on 30 May.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibba, Sheriff Mustapha Vice-presidents of the Gambia Finance ministers of the Gambia Speakers of the National Assembly of the Gambia 1937 births 2008 deaths National Convention Party (Gambia) politicians Alumni of Armitage High School People from North Bank Division People of Mandinka descent Prisoners and detainees of the Gambia