Monrovia — The Farley family in Logan Town has acused Representative Abu Bana Kamara (CDC, District #15) of abusing his power by using his influence and money to forcefully take away a parcel of their land to be used by President George Weah for the construction of a sports pitch.
The family said talks between them and Rep. Kamara broke down and they went to court, but while the case is still at the Civil Law Court, Rep. Kamara opted to go on with his plan, and at the same time, has hired group of thugs who stationed on the land and constantly intimidating them.
Rep. Kamara has denied the allegation and stated the land in question does not belong to the family, rather it is for the government. He argued that the government, through the law of eminent domain, can take ownership of any land.
Background
The contested land belongs to the late Thomas Farley, Sr and his wife Martha Farley who is still alive at the age 80 years, according to Garlo Farley, son of the deceased, who together with his mother, Mrs. Farley are serving as co-administrators of the land.
Farley, in an interview with reporters at the family's residence over the weekend explained that his parents bought the land more than 50 years ago. The dispute with Rep. Kamara started in March 2022, when a group of people stormed their residence and cut down the trees and flowers for the construction of a sports pitch.
The family then decided to meet Rep. Karmara, who had developed the adjoining area for a community football field. In the meeting held at the Garloe's residence on March 19, 2022, Farley said Kamara acknowledged that he wanted to develop the area into a modern sports pitch, and they told him that in order to use the piece of their land, they should enter into an agreement that will guarantee the Farley's family ownership to the land and the right to claim it in the future.
There was no agreement reached during that meeting. However, on April 1, 2022, the lawmaker broke ground for the construction project, leading the family to complain him to the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
"On April 1, 2022, Representative Kamara dedicated the football field project. At that event, he called our aged mother a witch. On April 7, 2022, based on the advice of our legal counsel, we wrote a letter to Representative Kamara to stop all works done on our private property, and we sent a copy to the Speaker of the House of Representative, Hon. Bhofal Chambers. On May 6, 2022, we wrote a letter to the Honorable Chairman of the Liberia Land Authority for intervention in this matter, to address the abuse of Power by Representative Hon. Abu Kamara and to desist from the use of mob justice to carry out his work on private property," Garlo stated.
Continuing, the Farley family said, due to the backlog of cases with the Land Commission, and in order to safeguard their lives from threats of death, threats against their homes, and other threats issued by those working under the authority of Rep. Kamara, they moved the matter to Court.
Farley stated that at first, the Court with jurisdiction over the matter refused to listen to them under the pretext that Representative Abu Kamara was "untouchable to the extent that even his Chicken cannot be touched".
As they continue to face harassment, they tried the court again, this time, the civil law court at the Temple of Justice, but not suing him directly, judging from the previous case they decided to sue those that are working on his authority. Under the gavel of Judge Nancy Sammie, the defendants including Roseline Young, Idonijah Blamo, Matthew Miller, Peter Worplah, Joseph Jlateh, Patrick Koffeh and all those under their scope of authority to be identified, according to court documents. The case is still pending, despite being almost a year now since the lawsuit was filed.
'Unlawful survey'
Despite the pending litigation, the Farley Family noted that they were surprised to have been served with a survey notice on May 19, 2023 from surveyor Stephen J. Bing, License #68. The citation claimed that Bing had been hired to conduct a survey on their property, on behalf of Rep Abu Kamara, who had purchased an acre of property from the Gbee Family.
They objected through their legal counsel on grounds that the matter is before the court and pending determination. Surveyor Bing, they noted, initially agreed, but refused to receive and sign the communication from their lawyers.
Despite the family's objection, the surveyor conducted the survey in the presence of officers of presidential security guard- the Executive Protection Service, policemen, and Daniel Debois from the Land Authority who insisted he was acting under the authority of the government to enforce Eminent Domain on the property.
The family alleged that on May 30, 2023, a writ issued by the Courts was resisted by the men under the "authority of Rep Kamara; and court officers were threatened with losing their Jobs while speaking with the lawmaker on the phone. The mob also rained insults at the officers.
They also filed a complaint with the Land Authority against Daniel Debois.
"Till present, an enclosed container is placed near the property, manned by over 100 men. With no orders of arrest from the court on the mob present, the men continue to linger, removing vegetation and damaging private property in order to fulfil his campaign promise of building a football pitch for District 15 Representative Abu Kamara," the family rejected.
Appeal to President Weah
In a passionate appeal to the President, Mrs. Farley said, while she supports the development of the area, the President should do the right thing.
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She explained that her sister was stabbed to death a few years back by a robber who broke into her home during the night. The dispute with Rep. Kamara which has led him to deploy a mob on the land and constantly threatens her and her children's life. This, she said, has reawakened the bad memory of her sister's violent death and has sent her into a constant state of trauma.
Rep. Kamara's response
Rep. Kamara speaking to a team of journalists at his Capitol Building Office, denied the accusations made against him by the Farley Family and termed them as "baseless and intended to defame my good name".
The District #15 lawmaker said he is a man of peace and for those who "know me from boy to man can attest to it that I am not a man of violence".
He said all the due processes including announcements for the survey for parties around the vicinity of the proposed mini-football stadium were all contacted, stressing that the land is owned by the Government of Liberia.
He maintained that the project is unstoppable and will go on as planned. However, he called on the Farley's family to seek legal redress against the government of Liberia if they have a claim. He denied deploying a group of thugs on the land.
