Eyes Off Our Lands, Fatou Jaw Manneh To Lands Minister

Photo: Fatou Jaw Manneh (Photo Credit Culled from Facebook)

By Ousman A. Marong

Fatou Jaw Manneh, a veteran Gambian journalist cum activist has warned the minister of Lands and Regional Government (MLRG), Musa Drammeh to get his eyes off their lands in Sukuta.

“Lands Minister (Musa Drammeh) gets your eyes off our lands. We would follow our lands to the letter. We will leave no stone unturned would follow all the lands that belong to us. You must pay back our lands or else we will go with you to any level of your choice. Why the greed and grief on our lands? Stop coursing the people of Kombo,” the veteran journalist warned the lands Minister.

According to the libertarian journalist, the Government of the Gambia has been scamming its citizenry on the land issues.

“They (government) have scammed and forfeited our lands from us with the promised to build schools. All the people of Sukuta are today crying. Some have cried till death because the little they earned is what they spent to get themselves a land only to have it forfeited by the government. We (the people of Sukuta) are not scared. we want to be law-abiding citizens as we all know is the communal living system in 'Sukuta Sabiji Demba-du',” she remarked.

Jaw Manneh has made these pronouncements in a purported WhatsApp audio intercepted by News Bite Gambia.

“The Government itself is the greatest aggressors and predators to land matters or land disputes. These are the very people we entrusted to be overseeing our affair and we expect to run before them anytime there is trouble and we needed justice. They are the same people following our lands in Sukuta Sabiji and Salagi. They have jam everything up and intended to bring confusion between us just to have us head logging,” she asserted.

She calls on the lands minister to eschew himself in Sukuta, Salagi land issue questioning whether the Minister would go to his own birthplace to be selling their lands at random.

“We are aware of the lands you sole from Sukuta up the Coast Road and we will follow them all. We will list all the demolished compounds and will make sure the government pays them all or compensate their owners. We would do this even if it will worth each and every one of us to be contributing one, one dalasi so that we can pay for a lawyer to challenge the matter to court. We know the government cannot stand for us so we will do all it takes to get our lands back,” she noted.