Sources also informed The Point that funeral arrangements are currently underway with hundreds of dignitaries around the world expected to grace the funeral, which will be held at July 22nd Square in Banjul.
Rt. Revd Dr Solomon Tilewa Ethelbert Willie Johnson, First Archbishop of the Internal Province of West Africa and the Ninth Primate and Metropolitan of the Church of the Province of West Africa, passed away on Tuesday 21st January 2014 at the Medical Research Council where he was taken for treatment immediately after he suddenly collapsed when playing tennis with his friends at the Fajara Club.
Brief Biography
Born Solomon Tilewa Ethelbert Willie Johnson to Samuel and Eliza Johnson on 27 February 1954, the late Archbishop Tilewa Johnson was husband to the Revd Mrs Priscilla M.G. Johnson with three children (two girls, one boy).
He attended the Wesley Primary School from 1962 to 1966. From 1966 to 1972, he attended Gambia High School. From 1977 to 1980 he obtained a diploma in Theology at the Trinity Union Theological College, Umuahia, Imo State, Nigeria. From 1982 to 1985, he obtained a BA (Hons) in Theology at the University of Durham, Durham, the UK, and from 1997 to 2000 he became a graduate of the Theological Foundation of Indiana in USA with a Doctorate degree in Applied Ministries.
The late Archbishop Tilewa Johnson was a Deacon from 1979 to 1980, a Priest from 1980 to 1990 and was Anglican Bishop for Gambia, Senegal and Cape Verde. On 28 September 2012, he became the First Archbishop of the Internal Province of West Africa and the Ninth Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa.
He also had wide Ecumenical experience working for and serving in many institutions and national committees. He was the first Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of The Gambia, from 1997 to 2000.
