(JollofNews)- Respected Gambian journalist Demba Ali Jawo (DA) has joined the government of President Adama Barrow as minister of Information, Communication and Technology.
Mr Jawo who was editor on the English desk of the Dakar based African Press Agency (APANEWS), is tasked with the responsibility of making policies, liberalising the ICT sector and with a requisite function to provide an enabling environment for it.
Mr Jawo’s journalism career began in the 1990s when he joined the Daily Observer Newspaper as a freelance reporter. He later rose to the position of news editor but was later removed in 1999 following the sale of the newspaper to President Yahya Jammeh.
Jawo later joined The Independent Newspaper as Editor-in- Chief on a two-year contract.
At the end of his contract, he worked full time at the Gambia Press Union which he headed as president.
While working at the press union, he wrote a weekly column for The Independent, Critique, until the paper was arbitrarily shutdown by the regime of Yahya Jammeh in 2006.
Unhappy with the suffocating political environment, Jawo left Banjul for Senegal to work for APANEWS.
While in Senegal, he continued to speak out against the excesses and failures of the Jammeh regime.
Reacting to his appointment, Mr Jawo said he will use his tenure to help reinvent Gambia’s troubled media landscape would as an effective contributor to improving the country’s democratic credentials.
What a breath of fresh air from that crazy Malick Jones and even crazier (who would have thought!) Sheriff “Solo & Darboe Started It” Bojang. Jawo/Sillah v. Sheriff/Malick = Day v Night. I wonder how Malick Jones will cope as DPS to Jawo & Sillah?? (though, strictly speaking, GRTS like the BBC should NOT be under a Government Minister). But I am sure the Coalition will have worked that out already.
All the best to Jawo and Sillah.
Dormu Rewwum Gambia, my brother since the appointment of ministers we have seen an amazing response from the international community. Most of the funds that were frozen because of Jammeh have now been release. I only hope that the government is behind the scene working with the international community to freeze Jammeh and his cohort’s assets. The president is having a good week, the visit of the UK foreign sectary is a major achievement for the coalition and I am sure that the president and Ousainou Darboe Gambia’s foreign affairs minister will follow up on this visit to improve relations with the UK for the benefit of both countries. The president has also made some pretty solid appointments these past few days, a seasoned and decent civil servant as SG, I think the post of SG should be separated from the post of presidential affairs minister as it was in Jammeh’s time because it undermines the impartiality of the civil service. The SG should advice the president and cabinet only on matters of the civil service. The appoint of a new DG for the SIS and the appointments of Jawo and Sillah to help shape the future of journalism in the Gambia. Dida you should not wonder how Malick Jones will cope because the man knows how to survive. He will grovel, cajole and lick backside if he has to in order to keep his job for without it he is stuffed. Jawo and Sillah don’t need this jobs to survive I therefore commend them for putting the interest of the nation first and would like to appeal again to patriotic intellectual Gambians to follow the examples of these duo and not hesitate to take up appointments within their competency when offered. These are two men I know can look anyone in the eye and tell you that they do not agree with your opinion therefore I have every confidence in them to improve the quality of journalism in the Gambia. Dida now we need people like, who have the best interest of the Gambia to establish media houses in the country to both compliment the work of duo and also to act as a counter balance to GRTS. No pressure and no rush my brother. To Jawo and Sillah I am humbly requesting to continue writing in the opinion columns and online media in order to engage Gambians in the diaspora.