Mustapha Kamara, the Local Unit Commander (LUC) in Kambia district, has said the crime rate in that region is low.
While giving a security overview of that northern part of the country, he noted that “the crimes that are mostly committed are assault and rape cases”.
For the last month, “41 cases of assault and rape were reported to the police”.
The LUC added that, “Kambia district has 270,000 in habitants, seven chiefdoms and occupies a borderline of 241km to Guinea along the rivers and seas”.
He noted further that there were 35 entries points, and that out of these seven were manned by the police.
LUC Kamara stated that relationship with the paramount chief, political parties and other organizations was cordial and peaceful.
The Kambia district council chairman said, “the police are working collaboratively with us and our relationship with the military, political parties, the National Electoral Commission (NEC)’s officials and NGOs is good”.
The chairman noted that there was a need for capacity building for youth to help them work effectively.
Speaking on behalf of chiefs, paramount chief N’gbak said they would ensure a level playing ground for all political parties. He assured the police that they would ensure that “violence is contained during the elections”.
Speaking on behalf of the civil society Amara Jawara said, “civil society is non partisan and has always been trying to bring changes in the community”. He stated that, “it is our responsible to bring development in the communities in which we lived”.
Addressing participants the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Oliver Somasa, said the reasons for his visit was to talk with the community about the work of police officers and to meet with police personnel working on the ground in the northern region.
“The Sierra Leone Police has been planning for the 2007 elections a long time ago. And up to now we have the elections strategy that is supported by top officials of the force.
In every region in this country there are set pillars to assess which part of the country that is volatile and needs the presence of more police force,” he stated.
He remind the gathering that, “the police is not in charge of conducting elections but the role of the police is to provide the conducive environment before, during and after the elections to be conducted by NEC”.
DIG Somasa assured them that, “as long as the north continues to be peaceful I will give you more support”.
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