By Omar Bah
The leader of the Gambia Moral Congress Mai Ahmad Fatty has said that his party is the only political party in the Coalition that has no position in the entire government structure.
Speaking at a press conference at his mother’s residence in Sukuta after his nationwide tour on Tuesday, Mr Fatty said GMC does not have even a cleaner representing the party in the coalition government.
“But look at the composition of cabinet; UDP has three or four cabinet positions, PPP has two, GPDP has Henry Gomez, NCP has Lamin Dibba and a nominated member in parliament Majanko Samusa and you also have Dr Isatou Touray, Amie Bojang and Ramzia Diab as an ambassador….But GMC has no ambassador and nobody in cabinet since I left,” he said.
He continued: “But still we continue to support its agenda and we will never undermine the Coalition because we do not get into this business because of positions. For us it is The Gambia that matters and not positions otherwise we would have been out a long time ago, particularly when I was removed as a minister.”
GMC, he added, does not even have an ambassadorial position “but we have political parties that have 80% ambassadorial positions. GMC is the only political party we believe is extremely sincere and committed to the development of this country that do not give a damn about position or post. If we do our reactions would have been very different…That is the type of politics we want to play, we are committed and married to The Gambia.”
Foni
On his relationship with Foni, Mr Fatty said: “I see no reason why anyone should consider Foni a no-go area for any politician. That used to be the days of the dictatorship, today The Gambia is free for every Gambian and if I intend to visit any part of Foni I will go…Am absolutely confident that there is nothing that can stop me from going to any part of the country at any time I so desire and I am confident that nobody will stand in my way.”
GMC source of funding
Fatty said: “I want you to understand one thing….GMC does not belong to one individual; it is a nationwide party. The party militants both in the country and in the diaspora and myself are the source of funding of the party.”
On the nationwide tour, Fatty said: “It was aimed at familiarising the party and its leadership to the Gambian people, inspect the party’s structure, and determine the party’s preparedness for the upcoming local government elections and as a member of the Coalition, to see firsthand information on how the new government policies are impacting on the ordinary Gambian before we would make assumptions.”
Feedback
The GMC leader said some Alkalolu and village heads were worried that “If you are not UDP then you are not part of the government. I was also told by some district authorities that although they were asked not to interfere into political matters they would receive calls from a certain party hierarchy telling them to do one or two things in their favor or else another way, so it was important that we are on the ground to make the people understand what government policy is all about.”
“I have to also say that the Gambian today is more liberated, more assertive and confident…I have seen a Gambian who is conscious of his rights and willing to excise them. I have seen a Gambian who is not willing to take excuses from politicians. I have also seen a Gambian who is impatient for development,” he concluded.
