By Omar Bah
Hundreds of women on Sunday evening took to the streets of Serekunda to “show solidarity” and “celebrate the contribution of Mai Fatty in The Gambia’s change” bearing placards reading, “We Stand With Mai Fatty!”
The marchers, who included members of the women’s wing of Fatty’s Gambia Moral Congress, said they were displeased with President Barrow’s treatment of the former Interior minister.
GMC deputy women mobiliser, Assiatou Jallow, told reporters that they staged the walk-by to remind the government that Mai Fatty has the backing of Gambian women.
“The essence of the rally is to demonstrate to Gambians and the government in particular that they should respect Mai Fatty for his contributions in bringing about change in this country,” she explained.
“Although we cannot force the government to reinstate him as minister, but we can come out and show the government that Mai Fatty and the GMC are still here and that they should show him some respect. This is important because as concerned sympathisers, we want to express ourselves through public actions,” she said.
She said despite attempts by critics to portray and deride Fatty and his party as inconsequential, they “know that the GMC has achieved far better than many of the so-called established political parties.”
“The GMC is set and ready to contest even the next presidential election and no one can doubt Mai Fatty’s ability. I want to clearly state that we are not depending on this coalition. We are showing that we can stand alone on our own. We are proving to the coalition that we are not like leeches. They have disappointed us, but that does not mean we will die,” she concluded.
Addressing his supporters, Fatty thanked the women for their show of support and reiterated that he will continue to support the coalition until the expiry of their agreed three-year transition.
