By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The only female candidate in what is likely to be the toughest Brikama Area Council chairmanship election in recent years, People’s Progressive Party’s Jainaba Bah, has promised women that she will empower them and wipe their tears if elected as the chairperson of the council, citing that women have been lagging behind in the politics of the council and that they cannot be limited to buying only ‘Asobis’.
Confident to bring back the PPP’s lost glory in the region, Jainaba told the women in Foni Jarrol that she is contesting because she knows that women are lagging behind in decision-making. She explained that women should fight for their rights.
“The reason I am contesting is that I have realized that women have been lagging behind. Women should fight for their rights. The reason a woman is contesting is to empower her fellow women,” she told the cheering supporters.
“I am urging you, my fellow women. On the day of the election, go and vote for your fellow woman, who will wipe your tears. She can do what you want,” she added.
The battle for the top seat at the Brikama Area Council is being dominated by men. Jainaba’s candidature has been praised by many political commentators, who are urging more women to run for more elected offices.
Bah, who has demonstrated her commitment and willingness to support women and young people in the region since declaring her intention to run for the top seat at the biggest local government council in the Gambia, told the women in Foni Jarrol that they should not be limited to only cheering male politicians or sewing ‘asobies’.
She said they should be at the decision-making table, which is dominated by males. She asserted that a woman knows the needs of her fellow women.
“It is obvious that a woman knows the needs of women. Women shouldn’t only be limited to buying and sewing ‘asobis’ or rallying behind men. We are tired of that. Women now realized that we should be where men are, the decision-making offices,” she said.
Kebba Jallow, the party leader and Secretary General of the People’s Progressive Party, told The Fatu Network that the party is of the utmost belief that Jainaba Bah will bring back the party’s olden glory in the West Coast Region.
She claimed that their candidate has all the credentials to be the next chairperson of the region with solutions to the problems the region faces.
