By: Sandally Sawo
The failure of the Darboe Kunda and Jammeh Kunda clans of Gunjur to accept the former lands minister’s proposal for them to shoulder the cost of the demarcation of the lands at the centre of a dispute between them and the people Berending has been worsening land-grabbing in the contested areas, competent sources informed this medium.
Since the late 1980s, the Sanyang Kunda clan of Berendinghas been laying claim to lands that traditionally belonged to the Darboe Kunda clan.
Nearly four decades ago, the Kombo South District Tribunal asked the Sanyang Kunda clan to steer away from the disputed territories because they did not belong to them.
It would be recalled that Berending village was founded less than 50 years ago when the Darboe Kunda clan gave the founder of the settlement a parcel of land to stay on and rear his cattle. This followed his banishment from the neighbouring Kartong village.
However, sometime down the line, his descendants started laying claims to lands that traditionally belonged to the Jammeh and Darboe clans.
They assaulted and caused injuries to several Jammeh Kundaand Darboe Kunda clansmen for merely visiting the disputed areas.
In 2019, the grandson of the founder of Berending shot dead a Jammeh Kunda clansman Buba Jammeh in an altercation over the disputed lands.
Following Jammeh’s murder, the Gambia government set up a task force to investigate the land matters and the task force recommended that the disputed lands be demarcated.
However, the government said it did not have the financial resources to support the process and the former lands minister Abba Sanyang then proposed that the clans of Jammeh Kundaand Darboe Kunda contribute D400,000 towards the delineation.
Sources said the clans were advised against the proposal by former police prosecutor Inspector Bakary Darboe, who expressed concern over the legality of Abba’s proposal.
Now, reports reaching The Voice intimated that despite the government’s moratorium on the development of properties in the disputed territories, houses, and other structures have been springing up in the areas.
Many Jammeh Kunda and Darboe Kunda clansmen felt these structures were built on their rights and urged the government to intervene.
“The disputed lands continue to be developed despite the government’s moratorium on development there. This is just unacceptable and the government must step up to the plate,” Ebrima Saul Darboe of Darboe Kunda said in a chat with this reporter.
An aggrieved Jammeh Kunda clansman Lamin Jammeh called on the government to treat the land disputes with the seriousness it deserves.
“We cannot sit idly by and watch people appropriate our lands without any consequence. Government must be seen to be serious with this land issue before it spirals out of hand again,” he added.
Many clansmen, who spoke to this reporter, expressed similar opinions.
Former General Musa Savage, one of the once-influential members of the Berending community accused of stoking the land-related violence, once told journalist Momodou Justice Darboe in a telephone interview that all lands belong to God.
Asked by Darboe whether he was aware of the fact that Berending was built on a gifted land, ex-General Savage tersely replied: “It’s Salatul Asr in The Gambia.”