Rohey Malick Lowe (born 19 December 1971) is a

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

n politician who has served as the capital city

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

's mayor since May 2018 and is the first woman elected to the position.

Early life and education

Rohey Malick Lowe was born on 19 December 1971 in Banjul, then known as Bathurst. Her father, Alhagie Malick Lowe, was mayor of Banjul from 1981 to 1983. She attended St Joseph's High School. In 2012, she moved to Europe and studied International relations at the University of Falun in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Career

Lowe worked as a food and beverage controller in a number of hotels before setting up her own business, "Wa Kerr Rohey", supplying the hotel industry with cleaning materials. She became a member of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

while living and studying in Sweden and served on the Child Welfare Committee of

Nyköping Municipality Nyköping Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Södermanland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city status in Sweden, city of Nyköping, which is containing a majority of the residents. Its southern t ...

Political career

Lowe returned to The Gambia in 2017 and was a founding member of the United Democratic Party. She was selected as the UDP candidate for mayor of Banjul and in her campaign spoke of a "twenty two year neglect" of the city that was "in bad shape."

Mayor of Banjul

Lowe was elected mayor of Banjul on 12 May 2018, the first female to hold the position since the establishment of the city in 1816. The polls were the first mayoral election since the ouster of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former soldier, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017. He was the Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 1994 ...

in December 2016. Lowe defeated eight other candidates including incumbent Abdoulie Bah and another woman, Lizzie Eunson, a banker who ran as an Independent. The

Independent Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

certified the result, describing the election as free, fair and transparent, despite low voter turnout. Lowe received 2,836 votes to Bah's 2,292 and Eunson's 1,576. Lowe said her top priorities included sanitation, municipal economy and public infrastructure. In remarks at her inauguration, she said despite her being a member of a political party, "Banjul City Council will never again be an extended wing of any political party." In December 2018, Lowe was nominated for Congress to replace Tombong Saidy, but withdrew her candidature after a lukewarm response from delegates. In March 2019, Lowe allocated D10 million of her own money to the Rohey Malick Lowe Women's and Girls' Empowerment Initiative in cooperation with Guarantee Trust Bank in fulfilment of a campaign promise to empower the women of Banjul. In March 2019, ''Freedom Newspaper'' reported that Lowe had been jailed in Germany in the 1980s on "alleged drug related issues", and was later involved in litigation after accusing a prison warden of sexual assault. Lowe responded by saying, "I saw the newspaper that is circulating. If the person, who wrote the story understands German, he will know that I haven't done anything wrong. I was violated. I am not going to dignify what they are saying."

Personal life

Lowe married Mboge Saidykhan, a Protocol and Welfare Officer at the Embassy of Gambia in Washington DC, on 12 May 2019. She was previously divorced. Lowe is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and she speaks English, Swedish,

Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to: Media * Mandingo (novel), ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957 * Mandingo (film), ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel * ''Man ...

and

Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Rohey Malick Living people 1971 births People from Banjul Mayors of places in the Gambia United Democratic Party (Gambia) politicians Women mayors 21st-century Gambian women politicians 21st-century Gambian politicians