Mariam Jack-Denton

Mariam Jack-Denton (born 29 December 1955), also known as Ajaratou Mariam Denton, is a Gambian lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the National Assembly of the Gambia from April 2017 to April 2022.

Early life and legal career

Jack-Denton was born in 1955, the daughter of Sir Alieu Sulayman Jack, who was a Gambian politician and the Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1962 to 1972. Her brother, Sulayman Bun Jack, was a permanent secretary at the Department of Defence in Sir Dawda Jawara's government and is currently a British citizen.

Jack-Denton trained as a barrister and became the first female Gambian to be called to the bar in the early 1980s. She also worked as a legal advisor to the United Democratic Party, the main opposition party during the Yahya Jammeh government. She was arrested in March 2006 and detained for three months following an attempted coup plot by a group of soldiers and civilians. However, she was later granted bail by the High Court of the Gambia in the 2006 court case Denton v The Director-General, National Intelligence Agency and Others. Following her appointment, Musa Saidykhan commented in Kairo News that "a solid background in law coupled with the spirit of a fighter, [means] many Gambians think Mariam Denton deserves to be a Speaker in a free and democratic Gambia."