Dr Isatou Touray, CEO of GAMCOTRAP
By Buba Gagigo
Dr. Isatou Touray, CEO of GAMCOTRAP, asserts that President Adama Barrow is fully committed to upholding and enforcing the law prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision.
In an exclusive interview on Kerr Fatou, Dr. Touray expressed her confidence in President Barrow’s commitment to upholding the legislation.
“I usually talk to the president, about this bill, he’s a democrat. He will follow the due process of the law but he’s hundred percent for the upholding of the law,” she said.
She added; “Is not that I am supporting Adama Barrow, I was there and I have seen the indicators he did. There is someone at the Ministry of Gender, children and social welfare, and other ministries being engendered. There is a strategic plan, there are a lot of strategic documents going on and discussions are ongoing. So what next? The state has done its part but maybe the people who should take responsibility that’s where the weakness lies and that one has been addressed. I want to make it very clear that, when I went to Adama Barrow personally (to take her letter), he gave me assurance and told me let it go to parliament and see what will happen but this law is here to stay.”
The National Assembly Member for Foni Kansala constituency tabled a bill last week to decriminalize Female Genital Mutilation/ Circumcision. The proposed bill, known as the Women’s (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is intended to address what Gibba perceives as a conflict between the ban on female circumcision and the deeply ingrained ethnic, traditional, cultural, and religious beliefs of the majority of Gambian citizens.