A Tribute to Sheriff Mustapha Dibba Pioneer of Gambian Politics

BY TIJAN NIMAGA, Bronx New York

The late Hon. S. M. Dibba with Gambian tyrant  Yahya Jammeh

It is with profound shock and sadness that I pay tribute to Honourable Sheriff Mustapha Dibba, who departed this world last week. Hon. Dibba was doubtless to say, one of The Gambia’s colonial and postcolonial politicians who did so much to proof to the colonial masters that we were capable enough to rule ourselves. The 71-year-old veteran politician allegedly died of heart attack and was laid to rest at Kanifing’s old the Jeshwang Cemetery.

Sheriff Mustapha Dibba and his legacy will remain a rich chapter in The Gambia’s political historiography. Sheriff was a man of courage and a very well determined politician who never accepted defeat as a failure. He spent decades as a disciplined opposition leader a trait that earned him respect and intensified his popularity. Despite numerous bids for the presidency, fortune did not enable him to convert that popularity to capture the coveted office due largely to financial constraints coupled with the greater popularity of his rival party, the People Progressive Party (PPP) of Sir Dawda K. Jawara.

Since he resigned as The Gambia premiere vice president under a regime he later fought to unseat, Dibba tirelessly spoke against corruption and nepotism. He consistently accused the PPP regime of mismanagement, inertia and cronyism. I will always remember him as a great countryman and candid politician who spent much of his life trying to establish a perfect government for The Gambia. With his National Convention Party and its supporters across the country, Sheriff Mustapha Dibba continued to challenge Alhagi Sir Dawda Jawara for the presidency. His sudden death is a great loss to The Gambia. Political pioneers like Mr. Dibba are national treasures for the younger generation.

May his soul rest in perfect peace. Hon. Sheriff Mustapha Dibba was our companion in Islam and brother in faith. May the mercy of the Al-mighty Allah be bestowed on you and may your passing bring peace and longer life to those you left behind. May your soul rest in peace at a place where all misery are banished and peace and joy ever more abide. Amen.