Jallow was a People's Progressive Party government minister under Dawda Jawara, being the incumbent Minister of Agriculture when Yahya Jammeh executed the coup d'état that saw him seize power in 1994. Throughout Jammeh's time in power, Jallow was arrested on 22 separate occasions. He was tortured on four occasions. On the day of Adama Barrow's inauguration in February 2017, Jallow told Reuters "Today, I have been vindicated."