MjumbePresident Announces Increases in Defense and Internal Affairs SpendingMay 4, 4769Special Security Police Forces Patrols High-Crime Neighborhood of NaranpáDespite the already astronomical spending towards the police force and the cooperation between the military and civilian police in the combating of organized crime, the rate of crime, especially drug related offenses, in Liore remains high, thanks majorly to the high rates of income inequality, poverty, unemployment, and homelessness among the public as well as the corrupt nature of the government. Despite its apparent ineffectiveness and the obvious need for reform, the Conservative government announced today that it would instead increase the budgets of the Ministries of Internal Affairs and of Defense and not adopt any necessary policing reforms or anti-corruption measures.
The funds allocated to the Ministry of Defense will largely be allocated to a new recruitment campaign for the army, which plans to recruit, train, and equip a new 10,000 soldiers from the rural to form a new corps to combat the drug syndicates set up in the northern highlands.
The funds allocated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also largely be used to recruit new officers for urban policing, a planned addition of nearly 2000 officers across Liore. Funds will also be used to purchase better equipment for the Special Security Police, an already militarized police force dedicated to the combating of crime deemed "of an especially great threat to the state." Also, vast amounts of money will be placed in the police's "emergency fund" a slush fund that is suspected of being used to pay off criminals and bribe local politicians.
President Wekesa Temitope released the following statement with the announcement:
Crime, my fellow Liori brothers. Crime is the preeminent threat that puts our nation at risk today. When I first took office,Liore has had some of the largest rates of drug abuse in all of Terra. When I first took office, the cities of Liore have had some of the most violent and extreme cases of gang violence in all of Terra. That was before I took office. In my years as President of our great nation, drug abuse and organized drug sales have fallen exorbitantly. In my time in office, we have almost eradicated all gang related violence. In my time in office, I have made Liore much safer than before my time. But there is still work to be done. Our officers in the police force and soldiers in the military need more support to finish our war on crime, and so today I've approved a bill which has passed with bipartisan support in the Federal Council which would give our police and military the support they need to win this war. There is still much more work to be done, and I will continue to see that work be done to the end of my current term, and throughout my next term. Together, we can an will make Liore safe again.
President Temitope's statement is riddled with falsehoods and utter lies. First and foremost, since President Temitope took office in 4758, drug abuse rates have reportedly risen rather than "fallen exorbitantly," and the number of deaths by drug overdose in Liore have risen from 967 in 4758 to 5589 in 4768. The rate of gang violence has in fact fallen since President Temitope took office, but this isn't due to some grand victory over crime by the government. In Liore, there have been two major drug cartels that have fought over their influence and operations in the country, the Wawambe Group and the Hojo Syndicate. President Temitope's war on drugs and crime has largely targeted the Wawambe Group, and left the Hojo Syndicate to do as they please. Why is this? President Temitope is a former enforcer for the Hojo Syndicate, and has received large "donations" and extravagant "gifts" from the Syndicate's Oyabun, Takeshi Hojo, throughout his political career. In return, President Temitope has used Liore's police and military as a means to combat the Hojo Syndicate's chief rival in the drug trade, and thus got rid of the Syndicate's need to directly combat the Wawamber Group.
In all likelihood, the increase in Internal Affairs and Defense funds will be used to further finance the government's involvement in the Wawambe/Hojo Drug War and not be used to combat all crime. The possibility of the new funds' use in the continued repressment of the government's political opponents cannot be ruled out as well. Just last week a
Mjumbe office in Yamabiro was shut down by the Special Security Police and its editor arrested, and only yesterday a prominent Jamii candidate was reported to have been killed in the "crossfire of an engagement between the military and Wawambe footmen."