By Fatou Dahaba
As polls closed in the crucial mayoral elections, the candidate and incumbent opposition mayor, Rohey Malick Lowe, and the NPP ruling party candidate, Ebou Faye, said they would win with a landslide after casting their votes in Banjul.
Meanwhile, after voting at McCarthy Square in Banjul on Saturday morning, President Adama Barrow called on Gambians to remain peaceful and law-abiding as people countrywide head to the polls again for the 2023 mayoral and chairmanship elections.
Barrow said it takes peace and stability for a country to develop rapidly, and every citizen should urge people to remain united and not allow elections to divide us.
He added that the mayors and councilors are responsible for managing taxes, so people must vote wisely and choose the person they want to represent at the councils because they’re essential to the grassroots.
“The election is about making a wise decision and voting for the right people. This is the last election in the electoral cycle and important for people to move on to national development, which is key and important,” Barrow declared.
The incumbent mayor, Rohey Malick Lowe, candidate of the opposition United Democratic Party, meanwhile sounded optimistic about re-election by the people of Banjul after voting at the Campama ward in Banjul North.
She told reporters that politics and campaigns are based on policies and programs, and the people of Banjul will determine this through their votes.
“Politics is not about insults nor a nasty game; it is about plans, programs, and policies, and this is what I sold to the Banjul electorate.”
If re-elected, she will dedicate the new mandate to the young people of Banjul, as she has done for women in her first term in office, she announced.
Mayor vowed to accept the election results in good faith, whatever the outcome.
Ebou Faye, the NPP candidate, was also optimistic about winning Saturday’s election.
He accused the incumbent of failing to unite the people of Banjul. He said this would be his top priority- connecting with and bringing people back together and moving on with his development agenda.
He denied claims that the NPP had been involved in vote buying and inducement.
“We don’t need to buy votes or induce people when we’re winning; the other camp is losing; that’s why they’re creating tension.”
Faye said if he loses the election, he would accept the results and work with the incumbent to develop Banjul.
It would be recalled that Ebou Faye contested in the last mayoral election in 2018 as an independent candidate and lost to Mayor Lowe.
There was high tension at the polling stations at Campama Ward and Gambia High School, where Ebou Faye voted, as supporters of both candidates accused the other of vote buying and inducing voters.
