The Minister of Information, Mr Demba A. Jawo has reported post election violence in some parts of the country after the recent Local Government Elections.
Minister Jawo made these revelations during his monthly press briefing saying that the police have received reports of violent incidents in Bakau, Bakoteh, Basse (Jimara Constituency) and Sukuta respectively.
According to him two suspects were involved in the Bakoteh incident leading to the arrest of one person who was charged with assault while the second one is still at large. He also spoke about another arrest in Sukuta where the culprit was charged with assault before Kanifing Court.
He further spoke about the Jimara incident adding that one of the four persons arrested was charged with incitement of violence while the others were charged with common assault.
The Government Spokesperson further stated that the reported incidents in Bakau took place late at night and police are yet to identify any culprits, saying the complainants themselves are unable to identify their attackers.
Minister Jawo spoke about false reporting of crimes, noting that crime is not on the increase but the reporting of crime has increased.
“The police still concur that crime is not on the increase but that reporting of crime has increased both at the level of the police stations and that more focus is given to crime on traditional and social media,” Minister Jawo said.
Jawo also added that the police have noticed a new trend in false reporting of nonexistent crimes.
“The police will charge any person found to be giving false reporting to public officials on the incidents of nonexistent crimes,” he asserted.
So far, he said two people have been charged for falsely alerting the police on incidents of crimes that did not take place.
The Information Minister further reported on the total voter turnout which he said was low at 34 percent, saying out of 886, 578 registered voters, only 302, 528 voted in the past Local Government Elections. He added that the CSO Coalition on Elections has said that it was free, fair and transparent.
The veteran journalist raised the concerns on the CSO Coalition on the low voter turnout and cited many incidents of hate speech, incitement to violence, gender stereotyping and tribal narratives.
Meanwhile, a key recommendation for the CSO Coalition is to sensitize the citizens on the importance of elections in the overall good governance and development of the Gambia.
