By Landing Ceesay
The Mayor of Banjul Rohey Malick Lowe has called for peace as the 4th December presidential elections draws closer.
“I am appealing to everyone to come together as one person as the [presidential election] campaign is looming. Let us campaign with dignity. You have heard yesterday [Saturday] about my meeting with the Vice President Dr. Isatou Touray. We discussed very important issues here and all the Banjulians were here that day. That development came because of peace and for us to be as one people. We want that peace to start in Banjul and go across other areas of the country.
“Let’s us to stop politic of insult because it has no use. Insults can reduce so many things in a country. Insult is very painful for people to sit and hear others insulting their elders. That has no use,” Mayor Lowe stated.
The Mayor of Gambia’s capital said all those vying for the presidency in the country have the right to do so, just like the current Gambian leader president Adama Barrow did against former president Yahya Jammeh.
She added that if others want to vie for the presidency, people should not insult them because it is their right to do so.
“I will take this opportunity to say like I told the Vice President, we should try and have a law in place so that if anyone insults, let the law take its course. We should set an example. If we set an example, this country will have peace. However, if we leave it like that, anyone who wants to insult others, do it that is not right,” Mayor Lowe stated.
Rohey Malick Lowe urged Gambians not to allow politics to divide them because the country is too small that everyone is related.
“This country belongs to all of us. One can express his or her opinion in a very strong and frank way without insulting. It can be strong, it can be harsh but it should not contain insults. The Gambia is a small country. Someone’s elder can be my elder as well; my elder can be another one’s elder as well. This is how small the Gambia is.
“But it is like there are people who want to pollute Banjul with flames and politics. We should be very careful and know that politics will come but it will also be finished. Therefore, we should not allow politics to divide us. We are very noble people; we are the capital city of the Gambia. We should be the ones to set examples for others to follow in our footsteps,” the lord mayor preached.
Mayor Lowe said Banjul is a community surrounded by water and they have no escape routes; therefore, Banjulians should see one another as blood brothers and sisters rather than enemies.
The mayor of Banjul made this address in a video recording on Facebook on Sunday evening. Her address followed a seemingly rise in what some described as a ‘politic of insult and character assassination’ in the country.