Mai Fatty has disagreed with President Adama Barrow over his suggestion the upsurge in crime in the country is as a result of the prevailing free and democratic environment.
The President in an address to the nation on Monday insisted 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,” the president said.
But GMC leader Mai Fatty said: “The ‘surge’ in crime, particularly violent crime, has nothing to do with the expansive enjoyment of political freedom. It has everything to do with governance deficit, high unemployment, hopelessness among the youth, misplaced priorities and neglect of the basic needs of the GPF and other internal security agencies. Linking political freedom to violent crime rates, demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the underlying causes. That is a huge problem.
“We had hoped for concrete action plans (comprehensive solutions), with specific details as urgent intervention variables, to directly tackle this emergency head-on. It did not come; instead what came was very abstract and did not even address the challenge. That too is a huge problem. Tackling such an emergency calls for decisive leadership.”
