Sidia Sana Jatta (born 1945) is a

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 ...

n politician, academic, and writer.

Early life and education

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 ...

, Jatta was born in Sutukoba,

Wuli District Wuli District was one of the four districts of the former Upper River Division of the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country with ...

. He was educated locally and at Nungua Secondary School, near

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana from 1961 to 1963, before returning to The Gambia to attend Yundum College from 1964 to 1966. After working as a school teacher in various primary and secondary schools until 1972, he enrolled at 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 ...

from 1973 to 1978, obtaining undergraduate and master's degrees in linguistics. He returned to France again to further his study in 1983.

Career

After returning to The Gambia, Jatta worked for the Curriculum Development Centre from 1978 to 1983, later as senior curriculum development officer, and was also a research fellow at the

International African Institute The International African Institute (IAI) was founded (as the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures - IIALC) in 1926 in London for the study of African languages. Frederick Lugard was the first chairman (1926 to his death in 194 ...

, London from 1980 to 1982. He resigned from the government in 1986 in protest to the performance of the ruling People's Progressive Party government. Jatta founded the

People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism The People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) is a socialist political party in the Gambia. Since 2005, it has been part of the National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD). It was part of Coalition 2016 in ...

in 1986, an opposition party to ruling president Sir

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 ...

and was elected its first chairperson in 1987. He is the coeditor of the party's newspaper, ''

Foroyaa ''Foroyaa'' is a newspaper located in Serrekunda, the Gambia. It was first launched in July 1987, and is owned by the People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), an opposition political party that was instrumental in b ...

''. He stood in Wulli Constituency for the PDOIS in the 1987 House of Representatives election stood again in 1992 but finished last in both elections. Along with

Halifa Sallah Halifa Sallah (born 1953) is a Gambian politician who is currently a member of the National Assembly representing Serekunda, and the secretary-general of the People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS). He served as a s ...

, he refused the offer of a post in the

Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council The Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) gained control of Gambia in July 1994, in a military coup d'état. The AFPRC deposed the Dawda Jawara government and banned opposition political activity. Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, chairman of th ...

government in 1994. He was briefly detained in August 1994 in defiance of the government ban on political activities. In 1997, Wulli Constituency was divided into two constituencies (Wulli East and Wulli West) and he won Wulli West Constituency in the 1997 national assembly election. Subsequently, he became one of the most trenchant critics in the APRC government in the country's national assembly. He is also a member of the

national assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

from

Wuli West Wuli may refer to: * Wuli District, a district in the Upper River Division of the Gambia China * Wuli railway station, station on the Qinghai–Tibet Railway ;Towns * Wuli, Lingshan County (武利镇), Guangxi Written as "五里镇": * W ...

. Jatta is also the Secretary General of Wulli Adult Literacy Development Association.

References

Gambia: Provide Fertilizer and Efficient Marketing for Farmers - Sidia Jatta
allafrica.com 20 March 2007

African People Database (page is cached) 1945 births Living people Members of the National Assembly of the Gambia People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism politicians Gambian academics Gambian socialists Grenoble Alpes University alumni {{Gambia-writer-stub