Mr. Mogae, a former President of Botswana, had mandated Mr. Yusuf to travel to Banjul and make the presentation on his behalf, owing to travel challenges across many parts of the world in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In normal times, the award ceremonies are held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, where the Daily Trust’s headquarters is located.
Announcing the decision to confer the 2020 Daily Trust African of the Year award on Ms Sawo, Mr. Yusuf said the Gambian lawyer won the award as a result of her “consistent work to end violence against girls and women, including child marriage and female genital mutilation”.
Jan 22, 2021
She’s a Gambian changemaker, a women’s rights advocate and human rights lawyer who has set the bar high as she is named the 2020 ‘African of the Year’ by Nigeria’s Daily Trust. Musu Bakoto Sawo, a National Coordinator for Think Young Women in The Gamibia and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law was praised for her “continuous commitment to ending violence against girls and women including child marriage and female genital mutilation.” said Former Botswana President Festus Mogae,who heads the seven-member award selection committee
Sawo is and was previously deputy executive secretary of Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission. The award was initiated by the Nigerian media house in 2008, with the selection of Congolese medical doctor Denis Mukwege, who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2018.
Musu Bakoto Sawo, winner of the
Daily Trust African of the Year award, began activism at the age of nine and has been championing the cause of the girl-child for 21 years. The 30-year-old, who holds an LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa, also teaches law at the University of Gambia. Pushed by her experiences as a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM), getting married at the age of 14 and becoming a widow at 21, Sawo has risen to become a leading voice in the fight against FGM, violence against women and early marriage for girls in The Gambia. Through the work of organisations like her Think Young Women, The Gambia banned FGM in 2015 and early marriage in 2016.
Musu Bakoto Sawo emerges 2020 Daily Trust African of the Year - January 17, 2021
Musu Bakoto Sawo, a Gambian changemaker and tireless women rights advocate, has emerged winner of the 2020 Daily Trust African of the Year award.
A seven-member award selection committee led by the former President of Botswana, His Excellency, Dr. Festus Mogae announced her as the winner on January 4, 2020 after rigorous virtual selection meetings which commenced on December 10, 2020.
Musu, a 30-year-old lawyer, won the 2020 award for her continuous commitment to ending violence against girls and women including child marriage and female genital mutilation. Married at the age of 14 and widowed at 21 with no inheritance, Musu, who had also gone through female genital mutilation as a child, still strove to earn quality education that has catapulted her to her current position as a university lecturer, who is also striving to address the injustices that women face daily acros
Being a victim of female genital mutilation, married off at 14 and widowed at 21, she has continued to use her experiences to challenge these same practices.
She emerged winner after a rigorous selection process carried out by a committee led by a former President of Botswana, Dr Festus Mogae.
The pan-African committee, which had as members Ambassador Ms Mona Omar (North Africa), Ms Gwen Lister (Southern Africa), Mr Amadou Mahtar Ba (West Africa), Pastor Rigobert Minani Bihuzo (Central Africa), and Mr Kabiru Yusuf (West Africa), began sitting on December 10, 2020 and announced Mrs Sawo as the winner of the award on January 4, 2021.