An opposition member of parliament has described President Adama Barrow’s speech on the increasing crime rate in the country as a damp squid.
Omar Ceesay, MP for Niamina East said many Gambians were looking forward to the president’s speech for reassurance, but his televised address did not have any convincing substance.
President Barrow on Monday evening admitted that violent crime including rape and murder, which were alien in Gambia has increased since he came to power in 2017.
He said this was due to the fact that his government has exercised much restraint since 2017 to allow Gambians and residents of the Gambia to enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms without interference.
“Unfortunately, it is now evident that some individuals and groups among us are taking advantage of the prevailing free and democratic environment to engage in violent-related crimes, such as illegal possession of arms, robbery, burglary, rape and various types of assaults, some of which tragically end in fatalities. This must stop and it must stop immediately!, ” he said.
” We cannot create the necessary environment for freedom and peace to prevail, yet allow ruthless criminals to take advantage of the situation to deny our people the liberty to carry on with their normal lives freely, and enjoy the serenity of their homes without fear of being attacked or robbed of their hard-earned money or property.”
But reacting to the speech Mr Ceesay, who is also the national chairman of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), said the president had failed to used the much anticipated speech to sympathize and send condolences to the families of the victims of violent crime.
” He fails to strongly assure justice to the families of the victims and put forward measures to ensure investigation results are produced surrounding the killings that already occurred,” Mr Ceesay wrote on his Facebook page.
He added: “He fails to outline measures put in place to strengthen the security apparatus in the execution of their duties to bring down the unknown criminals.
” He fails to provide us with data or statistics of the crimes committed over the period as one would want to know the crimes related to murder, robbery, and or assault cases in total.”
