Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, Minister of Information
By Buba Gagigo
The Minister of Information, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has stated that the Gambia remains relatively secure and stable, despite recent armed robbery incidents in Farafenni and Brusubi. He emphasized that while security challenges exist, Gambia continues to function as a peaceful democracy.
Speaking on West Coast Radio, Dr. Ceesay acknowledged the concerns raised following the robberies but maintained that other recent violent incidents were cases of homicide, which, he argued, are difficult to prevent through policing.
“I still maintain that, relatively Gambia is a secure, stable democracy. Yes, we have we have our challenges in terms of security here and there but if you look at most of the crimes apart from the two armed robberies that took place in Farafenni and in Brusubi, the other killings were homicides and homicides no policing operational procedure can stop homicide because these things happen between family members. These things happen between people who know each other and a little can be done but by and large, based on data and base on how we live in this country, yes, Gambia is relatively secure and stable,” the information minister told West Coast Radio.
Acknowledging that no country is completely free of crime, the minister highlighted that even the world’s most advanced democracies, which invest heavily in policing, still struggle with criminal activity.
“Even the most advanced democracies that invest billions if not trillions of dollars in policing are not crime-free. Yes, it is a challenge that the police are content with and we commend the police for a very good job because what is important is that, policing entails two aspects. Either you prevent a crime or you solve a crime and in most cases, they solve the crime. Current seizures of drugs in this country show that DLEAG is also on top of the game because if they were not working they wouldn’t have done these massive seizures. But they are having a lot of seizures, which means they are on top of their game. So we commend the security outfit for doing a very good job and I think by and large, by all indication Gambia is a very peaceful and secure democracy,” Dr. Ceesay said.