Frankly,
this campaign by some politically aroused individuals to paint Mai Fatty in the
worst of colours frightens the broad daylight out of me. In recent days, I’ve
seen all sorts of wretched falsehood and shameless fabrication being propelled
in the sinister plot to tarnish the public standing of the frontline minister.
It’s reckless. It’s pernicious. It’s dangerous.
First
there was Dr Lamine Conteh. This guy calls himself a fraud examiner and an
accounting professor. And last week, he took to social media accusing Mai Fatty
of purchasing a house for 10 million dalasis using public funds. What is
saddening is his allegation has since lacked merit as he is yet to find a
proof. Little surprise he is now left utterly diminished.
Then
the write-up, ‘In Defense of Dr. Lamin Conteh: Mai Must Explain or be Fired’,
written by some anonymous person. In the write-up, the author held that Lamine
Conteh was asking ‘very relevant questions’ and went ahead to give 10 reasons
why the Professor was right. The author made allegations that Mai Fatty is a
corrupt person who has no profession or business yet lives a flamboyant
lifestyle.
There’s
something suspect about this person and his/her write-up. The single count that
he or she didn’t give his/her name shows he or she is some dishonest pipsqueak
who is just trying to hoodwink undiscerning Gambians and sell the garbage that
Mai Fatty is not upright. If there is any iota of truth in the allegations this
crassly-informed hater has made against Mai, he wouldn’t have gone anonymous.
Now,
truth to be told, the objective of this hateful onslaught against Mai Fatty is
beyond me. I’ve known Mai Fatty for the past years and now spend a lot of time
in his company, professionally. This has given me a rare insight into the type
of man he is.
Well-meaning
Gambians will be surprised that almost all the allegations being bandied about
Mai Fatty are either concocted, unsubstantiated, pure conjectures or outright
falsehood. Yet, they are frivolous, malicious and lack credibility. The guy is – at best - being maligned by
these people for reasons that I know are far from being noble. What’s more,
these evil-intentioned elements want to ultimately undermine President Barrow
and his team’s plans to put the country on the path of prosperity.
I
do not want to be too patronizing but Mai Fatty is one of the finest leaders of
our time. When I spoke to him shortly after his appointment as Interior
Minister, he told me how passionate he was about faithfully serving the nation.
I remember him telling me in him President Adama Barrow has found a loyal and
dependable servant. His resourcefulness to play by the rules for the delivery
of the needed dividends of democracy is obvious. President Barrow knows this
too well.
Yet,
this much vilification of Mai Fatty is as suspect and it is faulty. Yet, the
fact that there’s no evidence of Mai being a corrupt person is some good enough
reason for every good Gambia to know the man is being unjustly targeted for
daring to serve our common interest to the best of his ability. And it would
now amount to being unpatriotic to keep mute, while this innocent man is being
pilloried for selfish reasons.
Meanwhile,
what is mind-boggling is how these self-appointed headmasters of our young
democracy expect Gambians to be so easily deceived. It’s true that a lie gets
halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on but
Gambians are now a smart people who cannot fall for the dirty tricks of these
individuals who think that they can use bogey schemes to cause chaos in our
public life, just to serve their nefarious interests.
President
Barrow must continue to identify with Gambian men and women whose hallmarks are
integrity, hardwork and patriotism. Our country needs men and women of
character with high level mental alertness to develop.
The
author, Lamin Njie, wrote from Serrekunda. He can be emailed at njiel@ymail.com
