By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The Lord Mayor of Banjul, Rohey Malick Lowe, has said she wants to focus on development in Banjul and avoid involving herself in politics during what she referred to as her final term in office as the mayor of Banjul.
A heavyweight in the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), Mayor Lowe said if she is involved in politics before she realizes anything, her time will be up. She noted that she will rather focus on development in the city than involving in politics.
“This is my last term in office, and I don’t want to [be] involve in politics. I want to involve [myself] in development. One way or the other, before you know it, four years gone because this is no longer 5 years. So, I don’t have any time to waste,” she said at her office in Banjul.
Mayor Lowe is in her second term in office as the mayor of Banjul following her re-election two months ago. While the elected office is always inundated with politics, especially from an opposition party to the government, Madam Lowe expressed that she has put politics aside and focused on development, noting politics has ended.
According to her, in her leadership as the mayor of Banjul City Council, they do not discuss politics in the council. She stated that her projects are not viewed using a political lens but viewed from a development perspective.
“Here, under my leadership, we don’t talk about politics. Politics is over since. So, we are not looking at our projects through the lens of politics. I am well aware that politics is over, and now we are looking for development,” she said.
Banjul City Council is one of the richest councils in the country. The seat for the office of the mayor was highly contested between the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) and the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) in the May Mayoral election.
In the past four years, there have been issues of projects between the government and the Mayor of the Banjul City Council, primarily due to their political affiliations. The Lord Mayor, this term, vowed to put politics aside and focus her lens on developments that will be of massive benefit to the people who re-elected her as the Mayor of Banjul City Council.
