'FANKANTA' REACTS TO IMAM FATTY

Bintou Suso, assistant programme manager of GTZ, the funding agency for The Gambia German Family Planning Association (GGFPA) locally called 'Fankanta', has said Imam Abdoulie Fatty's recent attack on Fankanta was aimed at denying people choices in their life.

The strident imam, told Bakau women last weekend that practice of family planning was unIslamic, destructive to society and responsible for many diseases among women "because of the poisonous drugs they are using."

Ms Suso said, "it was sad that a very good initiative is being misconstrued. The 'Fankanta' concept was all about development and that development comprises good education, environmental protection, bringing happiness to the family. Development is inconceivable without the necessary resources and a manageable family."

Ms Suso noted that 'Fankanta' was in line  with the national population policy which seeks good quality of life for all Gambians. She said she was surprised that "an Islamic scholar could use his preaching to convince people against a development as imperative as 'Fankanta'."

On the relation between contraceptives and prostitution, she said, "prostitution came before 'Fankanta'. It (prostitution) is a behavioural problem.

She said GGFPA  "does not feel threatened by Imam Fatty's statement. We are happy about the controversial issue, because it has now opened public debate. We will instead continue to intensify our work on socio-economic development especially  providing accurate information on reproductive health," she added.

But in his widely-listened to Friday sermon, last week, the Saudi-educated imam said, "Muslims should stop killing their children because of this foolish ideology of Fankanta. The Western countries should better send money than condoms and poisonous tablets."

Imam Fatty challenged scholars everywhere in the world to tell him "the ay'ats  and the hadith  in support of Fankanta."