Row in Gunjur over aliens registration

A serious row between APRC supporters and members of the opposition
reportedly erupted in the Gunjur registration centre on Tuesday morning when
a large number of people reportedly appeared at the centre wanting to be
registered but later identified as non-Gambians by the opposition party
agents and some villagers. The row that later led to the early closure of
the registration centre inorder to avoid any further trouble, nearly caused
a serious confrontation between the APRC supporters and supporters of the
opposition. Some villagers explained to The Independent that the group of
strange faces who appeared at the registration center could not produce any
kind of identification or attestation from five elders as required by the
IEC.

They said those people also refused to say where they came from and they
could not also identify any well known person in and around the village.
Therefore, the opposition party agents and some villagers said all of those
people should be rejected, but the APRC agent was said to have insisted that
they were all Gambians and should be issued with voter cards. As a result,
our source said a row eventually ensued, but our sources said all the
applicants were rejected when the registering officers at the centre
demanded from them the proper qualifications required prior to the issuance
of any voters card.

However, according to our sources, despite that, the APRC supporters still
insisted that they must be registered which led to the early closure of the
centre. Meanwhile, following the controversial issuing of identity cards to
non- Gambians at the KMC head office during last week, our reporters found
another team of immigration officials from Bundung Police station on
Wednesday issuing identity cards at Banjulunding just near the Chief's
compound, and in the presence of Chief Eric Janneh and other local
dignitaries. When our reporters arrived at the scene, they found a long
queue of people being issued with identity cards.

The immigration officials were seen issuing the cards at random to
applicants, most of whom only presented attestation certificates issued by
the Alkalo and without being asked any questions by the immigration
officials, they were issued with the cards. A lady who claims to come from
Lamin and who was issued with an identity card was unable to tell the name
of the village Alkalo. Another lady identified as Mariama Sanneh and who was
also issued with an identity card told our reporters that she came to The
Gambia two years ago from Bignona in Casamance. However while talking to
some of those who were issued with identity cards, a young man believed to
be a member of the APRC youth wing was over heard advising those people not
to talk to anyone who tried to ask them about their nationality because he
said journalists were all over the place giving false reports on the issue
of identity cards

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