It would be recalled that this African descendants community in The Gambia, who decided to return to land to their ancestors, were taken aback with the recent surge in violent crime against their members in The Gambia.
They made this call on Saturday at a presser to inform the authorities about some of the challenges their members are going through in The Gambia off recent, outlining that this unfortunate scene is now even deterring some of their some of their members, especially those engaged in businesses and contributing positively to the country’s development strides.
Meanwhile, COAD called on Gambians to see them as not foreigners, but one of them whose parents were forcibly captured and subjected to the infamous Atlantic Slave Trade.
Implementing actionable measures by authorities, they believed, would help to tackle the ongoing challenges, citing numerous gruesome incidents of murder, robbery, and violent attacks against them.
In an interview with The Point, Adrian Ryan, vice president of COAD, said the move comes amid rising crime in the country against their community, recalling that in February of this year, they lost a well-known colleague in the community from England.
He made reference to the brutal murders of their community members in the country, attributing the lack of strong action by the police.
“Also, we lost another remember last week. Therefore, we feel it is time for us to come out and make this known to the public as we are all facing the crisis. So, I think, it is important we work together to address the issue.”
Ryan added that since the incident they’ve made several move to engage the relevant authorities, who he said, were open and supportive to them in making sure they work tother and address the issue.
This, unfortunate incident targeting the Diaspora community, he said, has impacted them and even their businesses a lot, as some of their members are panicking to invest in The Gambia.
“Some of us have friends and families, who want to come over and invest in this country. But now they are panicking about the killings going on in the country. So, this is why we organised this meeting to reassure our members back home that we are doing all necessary measures to ensure their safety especially those who are planning to come invest in the country.”
He spoke about the numerous measures in sensitizing their community members on how to stay safe in the country, adding that they want The Gambian government to take these crimes seriously.
Luke McKenzie, chairman of Council of African Descendants (COAD), revealed the recent development targeting their community has brough a lot of distress and discouragement to their members.
In view of their rising crime in The Gambia, he said, some of their members have now decided to invest in other countries, adding that he himself, has now shifted his business to another African country.
“We cannot afford to put our family and friends in risk. We have all age groups of our family in The Gambia. And if you notice, The Gambia has not gotten any oil, silver, platinum, diamond but yet we still come here. Gambians need to know that we come here because you don’t have treasure. We came here because we love the people. But some believe that we come to take, which is not the case.”
“We aways bring and that need to be clear. But when we bring, we don’t want to be killed. Also, we don’t want to be going to Police station as it’s already happening and while reporting crime as victims, the police turn against us making us criminals.”
He spoke about their challenges in getting justice especially when they report crime to the police, thus calling on authorities to see them as one people.
