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Betrayed

3 mars 2018, 12:33

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I am hurt in my soul and blood Madam the President of the Republic, Ms Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib Fakim.

In an article that I wrote in June 2016 that was published in the SADC region I said that “Professor Ameenah Gurib Fakim will remain in the history of Mauritius as the first woman President of the Republic who has broken many gender stereotypes. She has shown that women can make it with hard work and perseverance. She is the only President of the Republic who does not come from any political background and is getting the highest function of the state on her own merit.” I went on to say that “she is lighting the torch and showing to the world that African and Mauritian women can make it to the top.”

When I wrote the article I thought you were joining the club of women world leaders and was among the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia; Cristina Fernandez de Larchner of Argentina; Dalia Grybanskaite of Lithuania; Dilma Rousseff of Brazil; Michelle Bachelet of Chile; Atifete Jahjaga of Kosovo; Park Geun-hye of South Korea; Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic of Croatia; and Marie Louise Coleiro Preca of Malta, to name a few. But, alas how wrong was I! Little did I realise that a woman working with grassroots and far from the so called academic tower would have been better.

May be I was like the fortune teller, Christine Daguy, who was recently trapped by Touria Prayag, Editor in Chief of Weekly on all her lies and cheating. I looked at you, Madam President, and saw that you would bring changes in the lives of the thousands of Mauritians and especially women who are on the margins of society being homeless and subject to violence.

You accepted a Barclays Bank Platinum Card from Planet Earth Institute for the promotion of students doing their doctorate and yet used it for personal luxury expenses as shown in the bank statement published in l’express on 28th February and 1st March 2018. This is a real shame. We hope you are not following the path of the Zumas and the Mugabes of this world. Madam President of the Republic, on the eve of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Mauritius, you are not only hurting women but the whole Mauritian nation and women in the SADC region at large.

I am sure that journalist, author and Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof was not thinking of Gurib Fakim when he said: “I think that the great strength that women bring when they move into senior levels of politics is not that they’re more nurturing, caring, maternal figures, but that they will bring a certain level of different perspective, a different way of thinking, and that is just really valuable for all of us.”

Women do offer important perspectives and interests in the decision- making and peace building processes which are often overlooked due to their lack of representation in politics.

My only hope is that not all women are put in the same rotten basket as Gurib Fakim. Political parties must file more women candidates at the next general and local elections and see to it that a woman of substance who has all the qualities to bring changes and do us proud be appointed President of the Republic of Mauritius.