Barrow was right to fire Mai Fatty
Dear editor,
Most employers won’t fire an employee without a reason. Most firings are termination for cause, which means the employee is fired for a specific reason. I do NOT know what is so special about Mai Fatty that limited but significant number of Gambians online thought President Barrow shouldn’t have fired him. I hope you are listening to yourself because what you are basically suggesting is that, no matter what Mai Fatty did wrong as a minister occupying a very important ministerial role,he should be “untouchable” as far as this coalition government is concerned.
Obviously, none of us knows the reason behind his sudden sacking yet but if the rumours of allegation of corruption, misappropriation of project funds and taking bribes are substantiated, then it is NOT enough for President Barrow to sack Mai Fatty. He should be investigated thoroughly and publicly,dragged to court and should be send to prison if found guilty.
It’s clear that not many people like Mai as a politician.We should also never ignore the fact that there have always been allegations of corruption around Mai Fatty since he took office .From buying a 9 million dalasis mansion six months into his ministerial appointment and taking bribes from a company that makes ID cards and passports for countries in Africa. Then his controversial move into an excessive office complex for his ministry costing tax payers millions. Of course he publicly denied all of these allegations but the questions remain: Why always Mai Fatty? Why would the president fire Mai Fatty out of the whole lot? Could it be that president Barrow knows something about his behaviour that we are not yet privileged to know?
Coming back to the corruption allegations, rulers of any nation lose respect among the public if they are found to be corrupt or dishonest. Respect is main criterion in social life. People go for voting during election not only with the desire to improve their living standards by the election winner but also with respect for the leader. If the politicians involve in corruption, people knowing this will lose respect for them and will not like to cast their vote for such politicians.
To conclude, I have these few lines for Mai supporters who think President Barrow is wrong to get him fired. The very first job of a leader is to inspire trust. Trust is the single most essential element to our ability to deliver extraordinary results in an enduring way. Trust is integral to building high-performance because it enables an organisation to work as it should; it’s the first defense against dysfunction and the first step towards delivering better outcomes. Put your trust in President Barrow in his decision to fire Mai Fatty instead of supporting Mai probably out of personal relations or interest.
Chilel Secka
UK
