By Amadou Jadama
Following up on their initial intervention to pay the fines of three women convicted of Female Genital Mutilation in August, the Islamic Enlightenment Society revisited the affected women in their village Niani Bakadji to present them with D65,000.
A delegation led by Alhaji Kebba Conteh, the Chief Imam of Serekunda Market Mosque said each of the three women, Mba-Yasin Fatty 95, the circumciser, Nano Jawla and Kaddijatou Jallow, parents of the circumcised girls, will receive D18,500, meant for their up keep while D10,000, is being given to the villagers who had paid D10,000 out of the total fine of D45,000 imposed by the Kuntaur Magistrates’ Court.
Kabiro Fafa Dampha, president of the Islamic Enlightenment Society, said the monies were donated to his organisation by Yonna Micro Finance which provided D50,000, while one Ebrima Fatty, a Gambian resident in Spain provided D10,000 among others.
Presenting the cash to the women, Imam Conteh said there have been a lot of misrepresentation of the intervention of his organisation but vowed that they will not be deterred to defend whatever is Islamic.
He said their intervention came only after they heard about the plight of the women, none of whom was known to them in anyway.
“We are Gambians and Muslims like you and we are doing this for the sake of Allah,” he told the villagers of Niani Bakadaji.
Imam Conteh expressed his profound gratitude to the National Assembly Members who are in support of repealing the law banning FGM.
Almamo Jaiteh, the Imam Ratib of Bakadaji and Alkalo Sarjo Kanyi thanked Islamic Enlightenment Society and the donors for the gesture.
One of the affected women Nano Jawla thanked the Society for rescuing them.
