The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Ebrima Jaw Manneh
4 June 2008
Thousands of sympathisers attended the burial of the late former speaker of the National Assembly who passed away on Monday morning at the RVTH, Banjul.
The coffin of the late SM Dibba was escorted from Banjul to the Old Jeswang Cemetery in Kanifing Municipality, where thousands of people gathered to pay homage to the veteran politician, who was an active politician before turning into an octogenarian.
Politicians, government officials, friends and well wishes, as well as relatives and family members thronged the cemetery on Monday afternoon.
Many were visibly gripped by a sense of grief and sadness, while others mustered the agony that the lost soul had plunged them into.
SM Dibba, 71, was regarded by many as a principled politician, who lived up to his believes and values. These qualities evidently trailed his political career and long service to the state. In 1972, SM Dibba resigned as the vice-president and minister of Finance and again tendered a resignation as minister of Economic Planning in 1975 for what he then saw as the failure of the then PPP administration to "attend to rural development" and the mismanagement of public services.
The late SM Dibba was viewed by many in the country's political arena as a mentor. He led a formidable opposition NCP in four presidential elections, though failed to make it to the State House.
His leadership qualities and principles of his brainchild NCP attracted a good number of Gambians, some of whom have become prominent political figures in various political parties in the country, notably the main opposition UDP.
Earlier in the day, the vice-president and the secretary of state for Women Affairs, Aja Dr Isatou-Njie, accompanied by a high powered delegation, paid a visit to the bereaved family at Perseverance Street, Banjul, where she extended condolence on behalf of the government.
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