By Madi jobarteh
When the leader of the UDP, Ousainou Darboe, disclosed the illegal allocation of state land to Pres. Barrow, the government spared no effort in disclosing that Darboe’s wife and daughter were also allocated plots of state lands when he was in government. Now, Darboe has publicly clarified that those allocations to his family were indeed true but were done when he left the Government. I am indeed concerned about this disclosure.
Be as it may, the point is, just as Adama Barrow must be told to return the land given to him, Darboe’s family members should return it. In that same vein, lands given to National Assembly Members, senior Government officials, ministers, and their families and friends from 2017 to date should all return the plots of land. There is no doubt that these people enjoyed this opportunity simply because they were current or former top officials or family members of these officials. The public office must be used for something other than self-enrichment.
Unless Darboe’s wife and daughter could prove that they do not own any other piece of land, I now urge them to return the lands given to them as disclosed by Darboe himself. Lawyer Darboe may have left the Government at the time, but he is a former Vice President and a former foreign minister; hence, his influence and power are real. Thus, even if his immediate family members did not have their pieces of land, there is a need for caution for ethical reasons in their application for State land, given that Darboe was a former Vice President and a minister.
In that case, Darboe, if he were to safeguard his integrity and credibility as a former top official, as well as the leader of the largest opposition party, should have advised his nuclear family members not to seek such opportunities lest it raises issues of ethics, undue advantage, and influence. Therefore, in joining his call for the public to demand Barrow return the land given to him illegally, I would also call on Darboe to ask his family members to return the land given to them due to ethical considerations. We must practice what we preach.
There are farmers, teachers, nurses, police officers, and many ordinary Gambians who do not have any land, nor do their spouses or children have any land because they do not have the means to buy a piece of land for themselves. Pres. Barrow and former Vice President Darboe do not belong to that population category. They are not in unfavorable social, economic, or political conditions such that they would need state land for themselves or their immediate family members. By returning these lands, Barrow and Darboe would have demonstrated to Gambians their strong belief in values and the rule of law and their commitment to a just and fair Gambia of equal opportunities for all.
In the same vein, the following people were also allocated state lands in 2022 by Musa Drammeh when he was the Minister of Lands. They included current and former government officials and private citizens who should also return the lands given to them simply because these individuals already have their plots of land. The Lands Act makes it a critical requirement that those who already possess a piece of land do not qualify for allocation of state lands. Here are the names of individuals: former Vice President Dr. Isatou Touray, Minister Ebrima Sillah, Minister Bakary Badgie, Minister Dawda Jallow, Minister Amadou Lamin Samateh, Minister Fatou Kinteh, former minister Amie Fabureh, former minister Claudiana Cole, private citizen Saffiatou Samba Tangara, Presidential Advisor Alkali Conteh and private citizen Sheriff Tambadou.
State lands are not the property of the Government. The Gambia and its resources belong to all Gambians. The public resources of the Gambia only exist for government officials; hence, the state only exists for those who work in the Government and their families and friends. Therefore, we cannot entertain a system where when one works in the Government, one is set to enjoy benefits, privileges, and resources just because one is an official and then extend such privileges to family and friends.
Since 2017, the public resources of the Gambia continue to be illegally and unethically shared among public officials and their families and friends without shame or fear and with impunity. It must stop. Therefore, I call on President Barrow to thoroughly investigate all state lands given during his tenure to Government officials, National Assembly Members, and their families and friends to ensure that all illegal and unethical allocations are reversed immediately. In this regard, I call on the National Assembly to open public hearings on state land allocations to public officials from 2017 to date to ensure that illegal and unethical allocations are reversed.
I call on all Gambians to raise their voices, protest, and sue the Government in court for illegal land allocations to Government officials and their families and friends. We should not allow public officials to turn our country into a booty to be shared among looters and pirates. Since 2017, the blatant abuse of office by top officials and their flagrant bastardization of public wealth must be confronted, and all perpetrators brought to justice. The supremacy of the Constitution and the laws of the Gambia must not be compromised but always respected and upheld by public officials.
