GIMC 2018 Went Well - Police
Pini Bothoko | Monday September 10, 2018 14:18
Following the death of a young woman as a result of a stampede at one of the gates at last year’s venue and several other stabbings, police were more than happy to have averted a similar scenario this year.
The police said even though instances where lads were intercepted trying to pick-pocket spectators at the festival, everything went well thanks to their readiness and proper planning from the event organisers. On Saturday night multitudes filled up the National Stadium for the much-anticipated GIMC festival and managed to impress the police.
“This time around we came prepared and so were the organisers of the event. We didn’t want what transpired last year to happen again,” the Officer Commanding District No 3, senior superintendent Bonnie Bareki said, when asked to comment on how the event went.
He said the show, which started at noon and ended the following day attracting revellers in high numbers, did not record major incidents like murder, rape or other violent crimes. Bareki was extremely pleased with the revellers who behaved well and had fun, but avoided major drama.
“With such a turn up where there was alcohol consumption one would have expected serious reports, but surprisingly we have not recorded major incidents thanks to our visibility on the ground,” Bareki said.
“People were forced to be on their best behaviour because security was all over cautioning them each and every time they wanted to get out of control.” However, he did not rule out the possibility of other cases to be reported during the week.
He stated that together with the organisers, they planned for the event well in time to make sure that everything is covered including revellers’ safety and their belongings.
This time around there were about five to six check points that one had to go through before making an entry to the stadium, something that eliminated possibilities of bad behaviour.
Last year people had criticised the event organisers for the poor security, but this time around the police and private security were visible everywhere even outside in the parking lots.
The festival had the likes of Nasty C, Lady Zamar, Prince Kay Bee, Somizi, Master KG from South Africa and other local artists performing.