Acting Lamin Alkalo, others testify at Lands Commission

Ebrima Bojang, the acting Alkalo of Lamin village in the Kombo North district of the West Coast Region on Wednesday testified at the Lands Commission chaired by Justice Mahoney sitting at the high court premises in Banjul.

When asked by the commission chairman whether he knows the boundary of Lamin village, Bojang in reply said that he could not tell.

He added that there is an old man in Lamin village called Pa Karamo Jammeh, who knows the boundary and had shown him the boundary of Lamin.

The acting Alkalo was further asked whether he knew one Mam Sait Njie and, in reply, he told the commission that he did recognize him, but denied knowing him well.

When also asked whether he knew if the said Mam Sait Njie has a plot of land in Lamin village, he replied in the negative, saying that he was not aware of any land that belongs to Mam Sait Njie in Lamin village.

“Are you aware that the said Mam Sait Njie has land in Makumbaya village?” the commission chairman asked, and Bojang confirmed it is so.

He was asked how did he know that the said Mam Sait Njie has land in Makumbaya, and he said he came to know after investigating, and was told that the said land located in Makumbaya belongs to Mam Sait Njie.

He was then asked to describe the location of the said land, and Mr. Bojang narrated that the said land is not far from Makumbaya, adding that the said land belongs to the people of Makumbaya, and he (Njie) got it from them.

“We have seen in our records that Mam Sait Njie was initially allocated land in Makumbaya and was using it. The same records had also shown that he Mam Sait Njie was allocated another land in Lamin village,” the Commission Chairman told the acting alkalo.

Bojang in reply said he has no idea about that.

Bojang was also told by the commission that a document was given to the said Mam Sait Njie in connection with the land. “Well, I’m not aware,” he replied.

Bojang was also asked whether he has knowledge that Mam Sait Njie had farmland in Lamin village, and he replied in the negative. He insisted not knowing about any land that belongs to Mam Sait Njie in Lamin village.

Pa Karamo Jammeh

Also testifying before the commission was Pa Karamo Jammeh, a native of Lamin village, who said he knows the location of the boundary of Lamin village.

Asked whether he knew the boundary between Makumbaya and Lamin village, Jammeh replied in the positive.

He was further asked whether he knows of any land given to Mam Sait Njie in Lamin village, and Jammeh in reply said this was news to him. 

“Do you know any land belonging to him in Makumbaya?” the commission asked Jammeh, who replied in the positive.

“Is it not possible that the former Lamin Alkalo allocated a land to Mam Sait Njie,” the commission asked Mr. Jammeh. “Well, I will be very surprised, in the sense that it is not our tradition,” Mr. Jammeh replied.

At the end of the testimony, a document was shown to Mr Jammeh to show that land was allocated to Mam Sait Njie, and that three former Alkalolou and one former Kombo North Chief signed the document.