The alkalo of New Yundum village, Ousman Bojnag, has urged The Gambia government to effectively intervene in the long and ongoing false claims uttered by Momodou Lamin Jarju alias Rongo that his grandfather is the indigenous owner of villages, namely: Lamin, New Yundum, Busumballa, Mandinary, Daranka, Kubariko, Kerewan and Makumbaya villages.
Mr Bojang made this appeal during a press conference organised by alkalolu of eight villages and elders from various communities at Lamin village Bantaba to strongly deny and condemn Rongo's "false claims."
He said that the leaders and elders of these communities have been quite for some time, adding that they have confidently and collectively come out to urge central government to intervene by putting an end to these disturbing false claims of land ownership by Rongo to allow peace to rain.
"How could someone just come and claimed that his grandfather is the indigenous owner of these villages? Where did your grandfather come from and how did he acquire this places," he questioned.
"The Gambia government should please intervene by immediately cooling the situation before it spin out of control. We have seen land disputes in other communities and what it has caused them," he noted.
He revealed that a community called Jola Kunda Misirang-nding has never existed in the history of Lamin village neither in Kombo as claimed by Rongo.
He further noted that since the Bojang Kunda family came to settle in Lamin village, they found or knew no other village or settlement except their neighboring village, Busumbala.
He further dipped into history and revealed that Lamin village was settled under Yundum while Makumbaya, Kubariko and Mandinary were all received and settled under Yundum village.
He recalled that there were leaders years ago in Yundum, adding that when the leader was in Busumbala, his assistant would be in Yundum which ensured a peaceful coexistence between the two villages and their surroundings.
However, he stated that the history of The Gambia is in the hands of the government, adding that the government knows how all these villages came into existence.
"Just one individual cannot come and claim all these communities that they belong to his grandfather. How is that possible? If one individual gets up from somewhere to falsely claim ownership of these villages it can lead to serious crimes," he warned.
