By Lamin Cham
The death has been announced of Gibou Jagne, a former member of Parliament for Serekunda West Constituency.
Jagne, a respected politician was first elected MP in 1972 on the ticket of the United Party, UP, defeating the very young Omar Jallow, OJ, of the PPP for the seat of Serekunda. In 1977, Serekunda was divided into two; East and West with Gibou Jagne moving to become MP for West under the newly formed National Convention Party, NCP, which he joined from the United Party, becoming a close ally of its leader Sheriff Mustapha Dibba.
OJ won the Serekunda East seat which he kept until 1994.
In 1981, following the Kukoi Samba Sanyang attempted coup, Gibou Jagne was detained alongside NCP leader Sheriff Dibba. Both contested and lost their seats in the Serekunda West and Central Baddibu constituencies respectively while they were still detention in 1982. Jagne lost to AA Njie in that election but returned as MP for Serekunda West in the 1992 elections which he kept until the 1994 coup. He spent his later years mainly keeping a low profile but remained one of the most respected politicians in The Gambia.
Paying his tribute to the man called Koto, Omar Jallow, OJ, described Mr Jagne as a very decent man.
