By Lamin Cham
For the first time in history a woman will be in the ballot for Mayor of Banjul in the local government election next April, The Standard has been reliably informed.
According to our sources the candidate is Rohey Malick Lowe, a prominent Banjul businesswoman and daughter of the late Alhajie Malick Lowe, a former mayor of Banjul.
Yesterday The Standard bumped into her campaign team called ‘Team Rohey Lowe’ led by Macoumba Sanneh.
According to the team, Rohey’s campaign is premised on youth and women empowerment, because that has been her passion. The campaign team would not say which party Lowe is affiliated with though, The Standard understands from many sources that she is a strong sympathizer of the United Democratic Party, UDP, and is known to have made very solid contribution in the struggle to unseat Jammeh at last year’s polls.
The Standard also noticed that the Rohey campaign team and their followers comprise people known to be supporters of different political parties making it difficult to conclude which party is likely to put her up.
“Our candidate is an embodiment of the struggle for women empowerment not just in Banjul politics but around the country. She is passionate about the young, especially women and has a proven record of caring and supporting social causes in Banjul and beyond. Rohey will provide for the poor, the underprivileged and change lives for the better because these are the lofty ideas she believed in and practiced even before aspiring to join politics,” the campaign team said yesterday.
The Standard contacted a prominent Banjul resident yesterday who commented: “The lady is a lion-hearted, determined businesswoman but very compassionate. Her wealth is always put into good causes such as scholarships for students from secondary to university as well as supporting patients and health projects. And guess what, she has been in politics for decades now. I think she definitely will bring a unique platform; being the only woman to aspire for the job.”
Rohey Lowe, born in James Senegal Street, is in her 40s and is a former student of Saint Joseph’s high school before proceeding to attend higher education in Sweden. If elected, Rohey will be the first woman to become Mayor of Banjul. Her father, Malick Lowe, was Mayor of Banjul from the late 70s to the 80s.
