The recent land dispute that was reported on Thursday morning involved one Amadou Njie who had a court case with one Peter A. Mendy over a land.
Amadou, who was accompanied by paramilitaries to Pacholling village was allegedly claiming ownership of 545x195 meters of land the community claims belongs to them.
Musa Mendy, the alkalo of Pacholling, explained that he received a telephone call from his community informing him of the presence of paramilitaries who accompanied officers from the Sheriff Division to his village for eviction.
“I was surprised and I called the commissioner of PIU to find out. But he said a letter was sent to them (PIU) to give protection to the officials from the Sheriff Division. I also called the Sheriff Division to find out and Seedy Fatty confirmed the situation,” the Alkalo narrated.
Over 150 cashew trees were felled as a result of the operation. The alkalo said it’s shocking to realise that the trees were being cut down, adding his community relies on heavily on cashews for living.
Dilating on the historical background of Pacholling village, the Alkalo further explained that they have settled at the village for over a century, with generations of alkalolu (village heads).
For the past few years, he added that some people from Jambur, Sanyang and the surrounding area started coming to his village to claim ownership of some lands.
He described the eviction as something that contravenes the law, while reiterating that Amadou Njie never had a case with many of his community members.
“So if he claims to have a judgment from a District Tribunal at Gunjur, then that is a defunct judgment. We never had any judgment in favour of us at the Gunjur Tribunal.”
John Gibba, a victim, explained that he was very sad about the incident, noting that a force was used against them. He added that they were discriminated against due to their powerlessness.
He said they plant cashews to feed themselves. “So if they are destroyed, it’s our livelihood that is destroyed. They fell more than 30 trees on my land and over 50 uncountable trees in different sections,” he said.
Now that the cashew season is coming and the trees are cut down, Gibba said he doesn’t know where to feed his children while calling for government’s protection. He said if nothing is done, they would take the matter to court for justice to prevail.
Sam Gomez, another victim revealed that when he stumbled on the ‘illegal eviction’, he asked for the warrant documents of the official who refused to show him and was asked to go to court if he wanted anything.
“I asked for the dimensions they claimed and they later gave me a paper to read. I realised that the paper indicates Mamuda, and I told them that this is not part of Mamuda. They told me the dimension they are claiming is about 200x70 meters but I put to them that they have claimed beyond that.”
James Gomez also claimed that they are being troubled by people are receiving powers from elsewhere.
Other speakers that expressed similar sentiments and frustration include Susan Mendy and Kattyrina Mendy.
Amadou Njie, the man who claimed ownership of the land in question, said he bought the land from the late Mod Talla Thop, who also bought the land from the Jambur Jabang Kunda ‘Kabilo’ (clan). He added that he bought about 520x200 meters which he later sold 200x200 meters and left with 400x10 meters.
“When I came to claim my land, the community came out. I realised that fighting couldn’t solve it, and I then summoned them to court. I met one estate called Pelity on the land and sued him to court. At the court, Pelity realised that those that sold the land to him didn’t have real documents because the land is confirmed to be owned by Jambur,” he said.
“He knew that he would lose and he decided to negotiate for me to take 60% of the land while he took 40%. We went together with his lawyer Pa Harry Jammeh to agree and later the court gave me 60%. At the time of the demolition, the Sheriff Division served the occupants a notice.”
