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Dawda Jawara
First president of The Gambia; longest-serving democratically elected African leader of his era
The veterinarian who built Africa's smallest nation into a model of stable democracy — for nearly three decades.
The rise
A veterinary surgeon trained in Glasgow, Jawara entered politics and led The Gambia to independence in 1965. He served as president for 29 years, maintaining multiparty democracy and press freedom in a region plagued by coups. He was overthrown by Yahya Jammeh in 1994 and lived in exile in Britain.