Mai Fatty Says He Would Have Preferred To Join President Barrow To The Opposition

By Buba Gagigo

The leader of the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) party, Mai Ahmed Fatty said he would have preferred to join President Adama Barrow to the opposition in the 2021 presidential election.

The GMC leader made these comments in response to why he did not join the opposition against Barrow in the 2021 presidential election.

“You said a lot of people said I should go to the opposition! A lot of people told me to go to Barrow. So both sides exist. In fact, I could have joined President Barrow because if you put the alternatives on the scale, I prefer that program than other alternatives. President Barrow had a manifesto. He had a programme. If I were to go to either of the sides, personally from my point of view, I would have joined President Barrow,” he told Kerr Fatou on Thursday evening.

The GMC leader however believes that there are governance shortages under Barrow that need improvement, but insists he would still choose him over the opposition.

“I believe that there are governance shortages. There are things that need change. There are too many things that I’m not happy about in the manner in which governance is conducted in this country. But there are a lot of things that I appreciate. Everything cannot go wrong. So, if I were to exercise a choice, I will see the consolidation of some of those development gains in the area of infrastructure, in the area of the economy, (and) accountability. We still have a lot to do with accountability. We have a lot of work to do with institutional reforms. We still have a lot of work to do with legal reforms. We still have a lot to do with security sector reform. 

“All these are governance issues that need to be tackled. And I believe if I were to exercise a choice which I did not, I would have gone to Barrow. And really it doesn’t matter to me what anybody thinks because everybody is entitled to your political opinion and your political beliefs. Some people will recommend my belief and others will say I’m a devil. Others will say I am looking for a job. I don’t care about that because I am an individual, you cannot be me and I cannot be you. You cannot think for and I cannot think for you. What I think is good for the country might be different from your views. So I stand by my words,” he said.

Mai Fatty served as a Minister of Interior in President Adama Barrow’s government in 2017 and was sacked  after only ten months in office. He was later appointed adviser to the president, but he resigned after a few months.