Pap Cheyassin Secka

Pap Cheyassin Ousman Secka
Born	Cheyassin Ousman Secka June 1942 The Gambia
Died	29 March 2012 The Gambia
Nationality	Gambian
Education	University (Law)
Occupation	Barrister at Law
Known for	Law and politics
Title	LLB
Parent(s)	Ousman Secka and Neneh Jobarteh

Pap Cheyassin Secka or Pap Cheyassin Ousman Secka (June 1942 – 29 March 2012) was a Gambian lawyer and politician. He was the minister of justice and the former Attorney General of the Gambia.

Pap Cheyassin Secka, more commonly known as Cheyassin Secka was born in the Gambia in June 1942 to Oumie Secka and Ndondy Secka. He is the maternal nephew of the Gambian historian and politician Alhaji Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof. He was educated at the Methodist Boy's High School in colonial Bathurst now Banjul (the capital of the Gambia). By 1962, he became a qualified teacher and taught in the Gambia for many years before pursue his education in the United States. He attended the Hall Academy in New Jersey in 1964 before proceeding to the American University in Washing D.C. where he obtained a BA in 1968 and an MA in 1969. It was in the United States where he first became active in politics, as one of the radical political students. Having obtained a fellowship at Columbia University in 1970-71, he was called to the English Bar in 1973. Cheyassin Secka returned to the Gambia in 1973 to set up his law practice.

During the administration of president Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara (the First Republic), Cheyassin Secka became the leader of the defunct National Liberation Party formed on 4 October 1975. However his political career was merred by the country's 1981 coup d'état instigated by the revolutionist Kukoi Samba Sanyang. According to sources, "he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his alleged participation into the Koukoi [Kukoi] coup attempt against Jawara's regime." Having spent nearly 12 years in prison at Mile Two (the country's top prison), he was later granted amnesty.

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