The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) isdeeply saddened to announce that Professor Thomas Jaye, the former Deputy Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research (FAAR) and the Director of the Policy Support and Consultancy Services Unit of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, has recently passed away in Monrovia, Liberia. Our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends and colleagues. Prof, Jaye affectionately called TJ is survived by his son Mubarak Jaye.
TJ obtained Master of Arts (MA) in History in 1990 from Moscow State University in Russia and graduated with Ph.D. degree in International Politics in 1999 from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK. This was followed by a position as a tutor at the Department of Continuing Education, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK. Between 1999 and 2004, Thomas Jaye served as the Director, Africa Research and Information Bureau (ARIB), UK; Programme Manager, Community Development and Advocacy Centre (CODAC), UK and Programme Manager, International Rescue Committee (IRC), UK.
Prof. Thomas Jaye joined KAIPTC in July 2005 as a Senior Research Fellow. This was when the Centre was still under construction, and what is now known as the Faculty of Academic Affairs Research (FAAR) had just two members of staff. Dr. Jaye joined the Centre from the Edinburgh University’s renowned Centre for African Studies, and was already an internationally recognised and sought-after expert on security studies. Subsequently, he gained worldwide reputation as an expert in National Security strategy formulation and Security Sector Reform and Post-Conflict Reconstruction. In this regard, he led international consultancies in the drafting of the national security strategies and policies of Liberia and Sierra Leone. He brought his rich experience and broad networks to build, recruit, mentor and expand the Centre’s research department, known then as the Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD). He was also central to nurturing the Centre’s training programmes, and its burgeoning policy and technical support to governments, intergovernmental organisations and other stakeholders in peace and security. In 2019, The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) appointed Dr. Thomas Jaye as a tenured professor at the institute.
‘TJ’ rose to become the Deputy Director of the Research Department and its expanded form; the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research. He was instrumental in birthing and building the academic section at KAIPTC and availed his expertise and mentorship to junior colleagues, interns, external scholars, training course participants, postgraduate students and PhD candidates. Prof. Jaye used his influence and networks to positively impact peace, state and human security and development throughout the African continent and beyond. He was essential to the success of the Centre’s research, training, policy and technical support particularly in his home country of Liberia, including to partner funded projects by the Governments of, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia and Japan.
Prof. Jaye was the Chairman of the Management Committee, Platform for Dialogue and Peace, Monrovia, Liberia; Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), Accra, Ghana; Member of the Board of Trustees, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja, Nigeria; Member of the Board of Trustees, Pan-African Development Education and Advocacy Project (PADEAP), London, UK; Member of the Advisory Group, Africa Governance and Security Project, SIPRI-OSI; Member of the African Security Sector Network (ASSN) and a founding Member of the Forum on Africa and International Affairs (FAIR), a Working Group of the British International Studies Association (BISA). He was also a onetime editor of the Africa World Review (AWR) and a member of the editorial working group & contributing editor of the Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE). More scholarly accomplishments include works undertaken for UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI),Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF), ECOWAS among others.In total, TJ contributed many research papers, chapters, books and presentations to the discipline of peace and security.
Dr. Jaye loved to discuss and share his fields of expertise and his passion for different genres of music, football, and exquisite victuals. He will not only be remembered for his academic acumen or managerial skills or international influence but even more for his affability, his ‘open door’ policy, his quiet wisdom and ease in interacting with policy-makers, peers and juniors alike.
‘Prof Jaye’ ‘Doc’, ‘TJ’, ‘Ma Man’, ‘Comrade’, ‘Tom’, ‘Dr. Jaye’, your family at KAIPTC, especially at FAAR, will miss you and we thank you for all your years of selfless leadership, insight kindness, sincerity and dedicated service to the Centre.
May his soul rest in perfect peace!
