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UTGSU presidential hopeful upbeat of victory

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Speaking in an interview with The Standard on what is billed to be a closely-contested election, Bakary Fatty, who is also the president of the UTG Law Faculty, said: “I am deeply sky-high buoyed to win this election. My conviction and belief are rooted on that fact that I have a proven track record of delivering, and the issues I am championing, as my flagship policies, are striking a chord with students.”

Asked why he is throwing his hat in the UTGSU presidential ring, he replied: “I am fully convinced that the occupier of the University of The Gambia Students’ Union needs traits that are vitally essential to restore students hope in the union. Characters like objectivity, fairness, impartiality, transparency, accountability and integrity are what public servants should epitomize. And I embody all. This was seriously lacking in the union, turning students off from unionism. That said, I also have the right leadership skills that I developed during my stint as the president of the Law Faculty, former Technical and logistic minister of the UTSU and former Legal Adviser to National Union of Gambian Students.”

Grilled on what policies and programmes his government will pursue if he is voted into office, and ebullient Bakary fatty, who is nicknamed George Galloway, the colorful British Member of Parliament for Bradford West, said: “Top on my priority list is to engage the University authorities on the new grading system introduced at the University. It is affecting students, who were subjected to the previous grading system. The ever-ballooning of the tuition fee will be looked at. I am also working on a loan scheme with banks to help students – the less well-off, but bright and brilliant – to have money to pay for their school fees, career development centres will be established, internet connection for students inter alia. These are some of the policies I am running on.”

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Pressed to point out the difference between him and his opponents, he noted: “I am running a positive campaign, designed to win hearts and minds. The divide between me and my opponents cannot be wider.  The policies they are pursuing are the failing policies that will set the University backwards. So the choices that students are facing in this election are clear: a competent, able, candidate with policies that are achievable and deliverable in me, and the failing, incompetent, out-of-touch policies in my opponents, which are clunky, and frankly, honkey-cockily plucked out of thin air. Given how wise UTG students are, I believe, they are going for the former”.

Commenting on the low student voter turnout, which marred previous elections, Bakary Fatty, gave the diagnosis and prognoses of the problem, pointing out: “ The hopes of students are dashed when students jockey for positions only to enrich their CV’s, and crawl into a job position at the UTG on the coattail of the University authorities. I am not that candidate. Far from it. I am pursuing policies, not positions. That is why I am building one of the most formidable student-driven armies in the UTG with the hope that, together, we can secure student unionism for the common good, which is, actually, my slogan”.   

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