Former Interior Minister and NPP-led Alliance coordinator Mai Ahmad Fatty has urged University of The Gambia students to suspend street demonstrations and return to lectures, warning them not to allow politicians to hijack their genuine demands for the December election.
“We, as parents and community leaders, sponsor some students. When the bus does not come, when the canteen is closed and when the internet fails, the cost falls on the family. Your complaints directly impact our households,” Fatty said in a statement shared with The Standard.
He added: “We believe that no politician has the right to play politics with the future of your education, and we are included in that. Your petition asks for buses, a working canteen, clean drinking water, reliable internet, laboratories for science students and a studio for journalism students. These needs are real, and a student cannot learn without them. The Ministry has said it has taken note, and Minister Gomez came in person to receive your petition.”
Further reassuring the students’, Fatty recalled that the 2027 budget now before the National Assembly is D66.78 billion, which is 12.5 percent more than the D59.36 billion approved for 2026.
“Basic and secondary education receives D6.06 billion, the largest sector allocation. The Assembly’s Finance Committee has recommended a further D30.24 million for higher education priorities, including scholarships.”
He said the Students Revolving Loan Scheme was passed into law in 2025 and government has committed D40 million to it, and applications for interest-free tuition financing opened this September for the 2026/27 year.
“A scholarship scheme has been running for hundreds of you a new one for communities has also begun with 30 students, and it will run for five years. Pirang and Faraba Banta, the two communities hosting your Faraba campus, were each given scholarships worth D4.48 million.
“For skills, the World Bank approved $92.71 million for the RISE Project, which is expected to reach more than 272,000 people. Of this, $13 million is building two technical and vocational centres, one in agribusiness and one in fisheries. A new Skills, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fund will support about 4,000 young people, half of them women.”
He added that these investments are real, but they have not yet fixed Faraba, and “I will not tell you otherwise”.
“So we will support your petition to President Barrow and we are confident that he has our best interests at heart. Now we ask you to hold three things above everything else. The first is the rule of law. The presidential election is on 5 December, and the campaign starts within 2 weeks.”
He said in these weeks the whole world watches whether Gambian institutions work.
“The law protects your right to protest, and it also protects every other citizen. When both are respected, your voice has weight. The second is peace. Employers, investors and donors put their money where there is calm. A calm Gambia produces the jobs, laboratories and scholarships you are asking for. The third is unity. On 5 December, every Gambian has the right to walk to the polling station and vote in safety, whatever his party or region. Nothing should frighten a voter away.”
Fatty stressed that over these weeks, some politicians will praise the students and some will promise what they cannot deliver.
“Some will want your anger to rise more, than your problems solved. Their interest is partisan politics in the election and to the contrary, yours is your degree. When your protest becomes someone’s campaign, the country stops hearing about water, internet and laboratories and starts hearing about politicians, and your grievance will be lost. Do not let anyone use you, whether by flattery, by money or by a slogan you did not write. If anyone asks you to march for him, ask whose interest you are serving.”
