By Omar Bah
Former Minister of Interior has opined that President Adama Barrow’s alleged interest to woo the support of the former ruling APRC could have played a part in his dismissal.
The leader of the Gambia Moral Congress, Mai Fatty was dismissed in November 2017 for reasons President Barrow said was for national interest without explaining.
Reacting to a question on whether his alleged hostile nature to the APRC could have played a part in his sacking, in an exclusive interview with Mengbe Kering TV, Fatty said: “The issue was that the president wanted APRC’s support and he wanted them to join him but I knew the APRC gave some conditions that they were not going to discuss with him if I am in his government. So it was like if you are with Mai Fatty then you will not be with us.”
“There were lots of problems in Foni and the APRC were very strong in Foni. After the change most of the people in Foni were not ready for the change. There were lots of troubles there. Yahya Jammeh left but they didn’t want the new government to have peace. As the Minister of Interior at the time I would not see them creating trouble in this country and I fold my hands. Then I will not be doing my job. This is why I had issues with them,” he added.
Haruna Jatta
On the killing of Haruna Jatta about which he made a statement which was widely criticized, Mr Fatty said those who killed Haruna Jatta don’t fall under the Ministry of the Interior.
“It was soldiers who shot Haruna Jatta and not the police. This is why when they were doing the investigation, they did not involve the Ministry of Interior. I didn’t see the report and I cannot tell you what is in it,” he said.
Fatty, who later became President Barrow’s special adviser said although some people criticised his use of police convoy when he was minister but that was his right as Interior Minister to go with a convoy.
“At the time the country was very difficult and they were after my life – Jammeh’s killers were all over and I was the one following them to get them arrested. So because of that whenever I was leaving the Kombos, I would go with a convoy for my own safety,” he said.
Speaking on the changes he was able to achieve as Interior Minister, Fatty said one of his achievements was to return the soldiers to the barracks and significantly reduced police checkpoints throughout the country.
Appropriation bill
The trained lawyer said the Finance Minister’s D3 billion supplementary bill tabled recently at the National Assembly is full of political projects.
“The minister has not even revised his budget and he is returning to the National Assembly to ask them to give him more money that they will be spent on politics,” he alleged.
