Dear Editor,
I read two very interesting articles in The Standard newspaper of interviews conducted by your reporter Omar Bah with Mai Ahmed Fatty, the leader of the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC).
I really enjoyed the interviews especially asking him about the question of whether his party is dead or in a state of coma. Mr Fatty told Mr Bah that the question was “palpably defective”. But I think it is a very legitimate question because Mr Fatty had gone unusually quiet for a very long time. Since he made a half-hearted attempt to contest the presidential election in 2021 and failed to get even nominated as a candidate, Mr Fatty and his party have not won a single seat in the National Assembly and perhaps coming to the realisation that they have no political base or constituency, they did not bother to put up any ward councillor not to talk of a mayor or chairperson in the local government elections?
I must admit, although Mr Fatty is a failure as a politician, he has a silver tongue. But you should expect that of a seasoned lawyer.
He told reporter Omar Bah that some politicians believe being in the news daily assures their relevance. To quote his words, Mai said: “They consider notoriety as a political currency. I think this may be true to a limited extent. [But] my position is that the supreme value of a leader lies in the quality of impact, the lives changed, the policy decisions that fundamentally better lives and not the ubiquitous stumping in the public space. Over the years, I have learnt a lot. I am no longer inexperienced, and experience has the effect of changing people. Experience has taught me to reform my politics.”
These are nice and fanciful words but the reality is Mai Fatty caused his own political self-destruction. He is too pompous and tried to outshine the president when he was minister of the interior. Someone should buy him the book 48 Laws of Power. In fact Law 1 states: “Never Outshine the Master. Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear or insecurity.”
Mai Fatty once told journalists that he did not know why President Barrow sacked him as minister. I’m telling him that was the reason.
Again Mai Fatty lost his popularity because no one knows where he stands. One day he sounds like pro-Barrow and an NPP surrogate. Another day he sounds like pro-Ousainu Darboe or a UDP surrogate. Another day he sounds like he is his own king of the hill! Consistency is important in politics and that’s why he lost a good number of his followers on the social media.
Mai Fatty said there are countries in Africa and elsewhere where politicians continue to contest elections for over thirty to forty years without success. He told Mr Bah: “They haven’t given up. Why should we? Some succeed and others still desire to contest again. It’s a lifelong ambition. It’s a journey and not a destination. Only God can predict the future. We will not give up.”
I say, good luck. Let’s see whether Mai Fatty has the patience and stamina to wait and fight that long.
Bai Baboucarr Nyang
Brufut Heights Annex
Bijilo
Re: Mai says GMC is neither dead nor comatose
Dear Editor,
Is GMC even a political party? The GMC we know is a flour company closed by the Janneh Commission. It’s Gambia Milling Company. That’s the GMC we know not GMC meaning Gambia Moral Congress!
Yahya Boris Jarju
Serekunda
Dear Editor,
The GMC or the Gambia Moral Congress is a one-man party and one man makes decisions for the party. So in all essence the Gambia Moral Congress is not even in a state of coma, it is a dead party whether Mr Mai Fatty likes it or not.
Mohamed Mane
Bremen, Germany
