Plots at the Lamin CDC
By Landing Ceesay
Two hundred and eighty-two compound owners in Lamin CDC, located in the West Coast Region (WCR), have been issued eviction notices by the Sheriff Division of the High Court of The Gambia.
Last week, Kerr Fatou learned that residents of Lamin CDC had received eviction letters from the High Court’s Sheriff Division. Upon inquiry, The Asset Management and Recovery Corporation (AMRC) informed Kerr Fatou that they were actively working to resolve the ongoing land dispute.
During a visit to the area, this reporter spoke with several concerned residents about the eviction notices. Many residents revealed that they had acquired their land through various government institutions, including the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA) and the Gambia National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
One of those affected is Landing Sanyang, an employee of the GPA, who shared that he obtained his compound in 2013 through the GPA.
“We received our eviction letter on the 17th of July 2024. I called the number on the eviction letter which is owned by Omar Jabang, Sheriff of the High Court of the Gambia. He is the one who signed the eviction letter. When I called him, he told me that AMRC was going to go to court about the land and they lost the case from the Lower Courts to the Superior Courts. That is why we are given the notice that we will be evicted on the 19th of August 2024. We got our lands through AMRC sometime in 2012 and 2013. Because I got mine in 2013.
“The reason I have the confidence to apply for this land is the same confidence a lot of us here have. Because it is a government institution and buying from a state institution is the most preferable option. Because that would be clean and safe. We are working in the government, and the same government said they have lands for sale, so we feel that it is ideal and clean for us to buy it. What we were avoiding is what is happening today. We never wanted to be involved in any land problem that’s why we refused to buy it from an individual but rather AMRC as a government institution,” Mr. Sanyang told Kerr Fatou.
Mr. Sanyang explained that it was only after being briefed by Omar Jabang, the Sheriff of the High Court of The Gambia, that he realized the situation was too complex for a single person to manage.
Following this, Mr. Sanyang met with the residents of Lamin CDC and established committees to determine how they would engage with AMRC, the organization that sold them the land. He mentioned that consultations were held with the various institutions they work for.
Mr. Sanyang also noted that they formed a large committee known as the Lamin CDC Community Group, along with several sub-committees, all focused on addressing the eviction issue.
“We formed all these committees to ensure that we are not evicted from here. Yes, we are from compounds to come here but those compounds are not our properties. They are our family homes. When we left our family homes, our houses were occupied by other people. So if we are evicted from here, we will be homeless with our children. When my wife received the eviction letter she was trembling because she is a high blood patient. “I have to console her to calm down. We have people who have been living here with their families for over 10 years. For me, I have been here for 5 years. We have people who are living here with their nieces, and nephews as well as their children. In some of the compounds, 15 people are living there. So if they are evicted, where are they going to be lodged? Absolutely nowhere,” Mr. Sanyang said.
Mr. Sanyang expressed his fear and panic upon receiving the eviction letter, describing the experience as traumatic. He mentioned that after receiving the letter, the affected staff of GPA promptly notified their management about the situation. He also shared that they have established a large committee, the Lamin CDC Community Group, along with sub-committees, all focused on addressing the eviction issue.
“Because Ports bought these lands on our behalf in cash and deducted it from our salaries. We have completed the payment through the deduction of our salaries. So Ports have a stake in these properties because all our title deeds are with the Ports Authority. I only have a photocopy, and these guys also have photocopies.
“We consulted Ports Management through our Lawyer and then they started making enquiries about it. Although we did not get tangible results as of now, we are pretty sure Ports and other employers like Trust Bank, GNPC etc managements would take action to ensure that their workers are not homeless and we will be allowed to live here,” he said.
Mr. Sanyang mentioned that they have also made arrangements to reach out to AMRC, the organization that sold the lands to them. He stated that they submitted a query letter along with the eviction notice they received, informing AMRC about the ongoing situation.
Mr. Sanyang noted that AMRC has not yet formally responded to their communications.
“Acquiring and registration of these lands are legal. Because at the level of the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA), if you don’t have all the legal processes they don’t give you a loan. So I think even GNPC and Trust Bank would behave the same way. Because this is to make sure you as the owner of the money won’t use it on something that is not legally acquired,” Mr. Sanyang told Kerr Fatou. Fatou Bojang, another resident of Lamin CDC who also received an eviction notice, shared with Kerr Fatou how she learned about it.
“I can’t even remember the day I received my eviction letter because my mind was mixed up. I went to work and closed. My kids told me that there was a letter left for me. Then I checked the letter and also with my neighbour, and I was told that it was an eviction letter. I then read the letter and confirmed that it was an eviction letter. After that, I took the letter to the company I am working for together with a colleague who is also served with the eviction letter.
“I told them that we had an eviction letter. If I could remember this is the second time we have been receiving eviction letters here. This is not the first time we have received it. The first eviction letter we received was the year before last. But they never came back to evict us. This one is an authentic letter with a signature and stamp. When we saw it, we were scared and panicked, but we communicated with our institutions. We wrote to them but still no response from them. My institution wrote to AMRC but still there is no response from them,” she stated.
Ms. Bojang stated that she has lived in Lamin CDC for nearly five years, while others have been there for as long as 9 to 10 years. She urged the Gambian government to intervene and resolve the issue, noting that they purchased the land from a government institution.
“When we were buying this place, we were told that this place is owned by the government. Because AMRC is under the government of the Gambia, and is owned by the government. We were told that no one would come and buy land here and ended up in dispute. We were all confident to come here and buy land because we were told that it was clean and free from controversy. That’s why we decided to come and buy land here. For years, I have been constructing and still, I can’t complete it. I still don’t have the title. Then the government should come and help us. Most of the families here are women with their children.
“So if you evict those women and their children where will they go? Then men will suffer because they are thinking where to take their wives and children if evicted from here. Since we received the eviction letter, this is what we have been thinking about. Even if you request fish money from your husband all that he tells you is that you are thinking about fish money while he is thinking about where to take you if evicted from here. Our minds are definitely not stable,” Fatou Bojang said. Fatou Bojang shared with Kerr Fatou that they had all purchased their lands with their hard-earned money. In this challenging economy, she questioned where they would find the funds to buy new land and rebuild if they were evicted from Lamin CDC. She also expressed concern about where they and their families would live if they were forced to leave.
“We will be homeless,” Fatou Bojang said. She mentioned that none of them have anywhere to go if they are evicted from their compounds in Lamin CDC.
“If you ask anyone among us here, they will tell you that they have nowhere to go. It costs us a lot to build our houses and get electricity here. This place did not have electricity. We used our own money to buy electric poles so that we could have electricity. Some of us bought 4 to 5 poles so that we could have electricity in our homes. Just for someone to come one day and ask you to leave your home.
“We want the Ministry of Lands to hear our voices, and help us. We want the Ministry of Lands to help women and their husbands as well as their children. If we had known that AMRC did not get the land in the right way, we would not have come here. Because AMRC has other places, they have Farato, people are living there, and many other places where people are living peacefully,” she said. Ndey Sirra Gibba, a resident of Lamin CDC who recently received an eviction notice, expressed deep concern about her situation. She feels that being evicted from Lamin CDC and facing homelessness would be devastating.
Ndey Sirra, who works for the Gambia National Petroleum Company (GNPC), acquired her land through her institution, similar to Landing Sanyang and Fatou Bojang.
“I am constructing my compound and it is not yet ready. I am a cleaner at GNPC. They are the ones who bought the land for me and deduct it from my salary. Lack of financial muscles is the reason my compound is still not completed. I took a loan from GNPC and put it in my house, I took a loan from the Bank and put it in my house, but still, I cannot complete constructing it. Since I started the construction, even if I have a single butut, I put it in my house. This is because I want the construction to be done as my retirement is just around the corner. That is why I am in a hurry to finish it and settle in there.
“So one day, I went to work and closed it just to find a piece of paper pasted on my fence. I asked myself who pasted this paper here and what is it about. I can’t find the answer to my questions. So I then went to one of my neighbours to ask. My neighbour told me that there was a woman who came here with the Police and dropped the letters. My neighbour said the woman informed them that she took AMRC to court and won the case against them. Because she is the owner of this place and wants everyone to leave this place. I asked my neighbour, where would she want us to go if we left here,” Ndey Sirra asked.
Ndey Sirra informed Kerr Fatou that their lands were purchased from AMRC, which is government-owned. She explained that their confidence in buying land from AMRC stems from its government ownership. According to Ndey Sirra, they believe that purchasing land from the government is safer than buying it from an individual.
“Now that we bought the land and spent all our earnings building our houses just for someone to come and ask you to leave. If this compound that I have spent so much on is taken from me, where will I go? How and where can I work to get a compound like this and start construction there? I am no longer a youth to do that work. I am on the verge of being pensioned and very soon I will be pensioned. If this compound is taken from me, where will I go when I don’t have any family compound to live in? Where will I take my children? This is the only compound I have,” she told Kerr Fatou.
Ndey Sirra shared that since receiving the eviction letter, she has struggled to sleep at night, as her mind is constantly preoccupied with the situation. She mentioned that whenever she tries to go to bed, the eviction issue is the only thing on her mind.
“If this compound is taken from me, that means I am dead. They should just come and kill me if this compound is taken from me. Even if they don’t kill me, I will be dead already because I have nowhere to go. I have been going through ups and downs with my family to find a compound until I got here. So if this place is taken from me, then I have no purpose of living,” she said. Ndey Sirra shared that she has been working tirelessly for an extended period to complete her house, but she still has not managed to finish it. Her wish is to complete the house, settle in with her family, and await the day when Allah will call her home at the appointed time.
“Because I am no longer young. So what am I going to do if this house is taken from me? That is what even pains me the most. Imagine spending my entire earnings to build this house up to this stage, and they want to take it away from me. Where will I go with my family.? I don’t know where to go. I suffered a lot in the construction of this house. Now that I am hopeful that I have a compound where I can live with my family, this eviction letter has arrived.
“Where will I go with my family? I have suffered enough now. I have lost so much since this eviction letter arrived. If I have money, I will go and rent a place to live with my family. But I have no money with me that can rent a place for me. This is because I have spent all my earnings on this house. Now they want to take it from me, where will I go?,” Ndey Sirra asked.
Reaction of AMRC On the Eviction Saga To provide a balanced perspective and understand the measures AMRC is taking to address the issue, Kerr Fatou reached out to Lamin Jammeh, Operations Manager at AMRC, for his comments.
Mr. Jammeh detailed the actions they have undertaken since the onset of the land ownership dispute.
“We wrote a letter to the Solicitor General about the eviction. We informed him about everything that had transpired. The way we acquired the land, and the way we sold the land. We also had a meeting with the Minister of Lands, he told us to write a report about everything concerning the land. I was preparing the report. But my mother fell sick and I could not complete it because I was taking care of my mother at the hospital until her demise a few days ago. But the report is finally written and we are editing it,” he said. Mr. Jammeh informed Kerr Fatou that upon resuming work, he will forward the report to the Minister of Lands. He noted that the letter AMRC sent to the Solicitor General was also copied to the Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Finance, which is their line ministry.
Mr. Jammeh added that they assured the residents of Lamin CDC that AMRC, being a government institution, acquired the land legally.
“This land was acquired by AMRC through a sales agreement from the person who leased us the land. And the land is leased in his name. When we were striking that agreement we did so much research and we found out that the land is leased in his name. We went to Physical Planning, and the ownership of the land is in his name. So AMRC then went into agreement with him. When we were selling the land, we also advertised that AMRC has land in Lamin CDC which is on sale. But the print media and other news agencies all announced it was us. So we started selling the land.
“But the owner who gave us the land, his elder brother’s wife, took the matter to court claiming that the property belongs to her husband who is late now. To our knowledge, the guy who gave us the land is not the original owner. The land was given to their nephew, who is in the United Kingdom. So Thomas has a problem with Trust Bank, he took a loan from there but could not pay the loan. So he gave the land to Trust Bank to sell and Recovered their money and gave him his balance. Trust Bank directed him to AMRC that they aren’t involved in any land dealing,” he said.
Mr. Jammeh also informed Kerr Fatou that when Thomas joined AMRC, they reached an understanding that although they lacked the funds to purchase the land, they would proceed with a sale agreement. He testified that AMRC assured Thomas they would sell the land, reimburse him for his money, and retain their portion. According to Mr. Jammeh, Thomas responded that he would first settle the payment with Trust Bank.
“Sometimes in 2017, after the change of government, Lamin Jarjou of Babylon also started coming into the land. Lamin Jarjou is the self-proclaimed Alkalo of Babylon. So Lamin Jarjou and Landing Jatta started encroaching on the land. So there’s this woman who came and said his husband owns the land. So she took the matter to the court. Then AMRC also hired a Lawyer and we were going to court. By then we were having an in-house lawyer.
“So during the process, our lawyer said his mother was sick and he is not a Gambian, but a Nigerian. Then he decided to go to Nigeria to visit his mother. When he went to Nigeria, he did not file a defence. Because when he went to Nigeria, he did not come back. So that was the problem. So when they made the judgement, AMRC lost the case on the ground that our lawyer did not file a defence. We appealed the case, and lost the case on the same ground that our lawyer did not file a defence,” he said. Mr. Jammeh stated that, anticipating they would lose the case, they informed the AMRC Board of Directors and the government about the matter before the judgment was rendered.
“By then AMRC had land at Brikama, and we decided to contain those who we sold land to in Brikama. So the agreement here is, the letter we wrote to the Solicitor General is that let us negotiate with the Plaintiff’s Lawyer, that the number of plots that are developed let us count that and maintain those people at Lamin CDC and compensate her (the Plaintiff) that same number at Brikama. “Those who did not develop would also move. That is the agreement we are now making. I know that cannot be possible because this is the government. I know for them, they have to be appraised but that cannot be possible because the government is working on it. AMRC is also working on it and for sure we will see the solution to it,” Mr. Jammeh told Kerr Fatou.