Speaking to The Standard in Jareng, Niamina East, over the weekend, Governor Touray said: “The president has made it very clear that he wants to make sure that he works with women and he has given them his full support. He made a woman the longest-serving vice-president of The Gambia and even in West Africa as a whole. Look at the number of women he has in his cabinet today. Women man many positions in President Jammeh’s government.
“There is no position that women have not manned; not auditor general, not accountant general, ministers, judges, everywhere. So definitely he has paved the way for women to take their rightful positions. It is left to them to go for it [presidency] but before that I think they should be vying for parliamentary jobs and councillors. Women do not want to contest elections and you can never be a mayor, councillor or a president if you do not contest elections. Women are afraid to come out and fight for these positions. They only want to wait for the president to nominate them and he cannot nominate them all. Let them come out and fight for these positions. President Jammeh is behind women and he has paved the way for women to take their rightful positions. A woman president? It will only come from APRC. There is no party that can defeat the ruling APRC.”
Asked what factors contribute to women’s reluctance to gun for top jobs, Governor Touray said: “I think it is our culture that keeps women from participating in politics. Some women contest in elections and fail and some people start to say ‘how can a woman can ask for this position?’ They have to do away with such cultures. Failing to do so they will never achieve what they are looking for.
“I do not know from which party a woman candidate would come but at the moment there is no party that can defeat APRC? It is not going to happen in the 2016 elections; not in the near future. There is no party. APRC is going for congress and if they decide to select a lady, then okay. But with President Jammeh doing a great job and in a good health and strength and driving the country in the right direction, I think everybody will fully support him.”
By Alagie Manneh
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