By Tabora Bojang
A deputy leader of the former ruling party has blamed the current crime wave in the country on President Barrow’s failure to heed outgoing president, Yahya Jammeh’s advice not to compromise the issue of security.
APRC’s Borry Colley told The Standard earlier this week: “When former president, Jammeh, was leaving this country, he advised this man [Barrow] to prioritise security because without security he would not be able to develop the country but unfortunately he failed to heed Jammeh’s advice and that is why we are facing a security threat. No one is safe! Killings, stabbings, stealing, robbery and even commodity hikes have become the order of the day! People don’t go out displaying their mobile phones, particularly women. How many people died in just this past Koriteh period?”
The former Foni Jarrol lawmaker who later became the deputy chief of protocol to President Jammeh said the current deteriorating security situation has been largely compounded by the Barrow government’s lack of “security foresight and insensitivity”.
“Under Jammeh we had Operation Bulldozer which was a joint security force and because of its work, crime was largely minimised. But when this government came to power they dismantled the unit and all the criminals in the sub-region flooded into The Gambia. The security officers in the country are unprotected and are not given their dues. Look at how they have been vilified at the TRRC? It sparks fear in them. Remember if you don’t give me my due and I realise I am not protected as an officer then I will sit and watch and that is what is happening,” Colley opined.
Mr Colley claimed because of the rising crime rate and general sense of insecurity, many Gambians are appreciating what Jammeh did to maintain law and order in the country during his two-decade rule.
