For more than 15 years, the Manya Kunda family of Sukuta said it had fought to regain its Salaji farmland and asked how land said to have been acquired for public purpose ended up in private hands.
- The role of Momodou Lungs Jarju, the clerk of the Kombo North District Tribunal, had become a major concern, alleging that an old APRC dispute involving his late father is affecting the family's case.
The first land was lost in Nemasu. The second was in Salaji. For the family of the late Kebba Nfamara Darboe, the two places became connected by one long struggle.
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They said their grandfather, Ba Seedy Darboe, had farmed the land in Nemasu for years, measuring 175 by 220 meters. Then the family was told that it was reserved land. They lost it. Abdou said the Nemasu land was purchased by his grandmother, Baraka Bojang, who was a businesswoman, while his grandfather, Seedy Darboe, used to farm on it.
"Everyone in Sukuta at the time knew the land belonged to my family," he said.
Abdou said his grandmother used to pay the rates for that land.
"We were entitled to compensation, but until today, our family did not get anything," he said.
So they turned their attention to another piece of land, farmland in Salaji. There, the family cleared the bush. They worked the land. They prepared to divide it among family members. Then came another rumour. The Salaji land, they were told, was also reserved.
For Kebba Nfamara Darboe, the head of the Manya Kunda Kabilo of Sukuta, that was the beginning of a battle that would last for years and continue even after his death.
His eldest son, Abdou Darboe, now carried the story.
"My father fought for this land until he died," Abdou said. "Today, we, his children, are still fighting."
Kebba Nfamara Darboe died on 16 January 2022. He was born in Sukuta in 1952. He left behind six sons and 10 daughters.
Abdou, the eldest, said the family belonged to the Manya Kunda clan of Sukuta and regarded the disputed lands as their inheritance.
"These are our family lands," Abdou said.
But more than 15 years after the Salaji dispute began, Abdou said much of the land was no longer farmland. It was occupied. Walls had been built. Foundations had been dug. Homes had risen. Private people now occupied the area which, according to documents shown by the family, had once been the subject of a Government notice saying it was required for a public purpose.
And that left the family with the question that had come to define its struggle.
"If the Government took the land for a public purpose," Abdou asked, "how did it end up in private hands?"
Before Salaji, there was Nemasu. Abdou said the family's grandfather, Ba Seedy Darboe, had used the Nemasu land for farming.
"Our grandfather used that land as farmland," he said.
Then, the family were told that the land was reserved.
"The land in Nemasu was taken from us because they said it was reserved land," Abdou said.
The family now shifted focus to their farmlands in Salaji. There, Abdou said, family members began clearing the area and preparing the land for use.
"Our family cleared the area and started working there. It was bushy," Abdou said.
Then, in 2010, the family heard that Salaji, too, was being described as reserved land. His father decided to take the matter to the Land Commission. The Commission was chaired by Justice Basiru V.P. Mahoney, according to the family.
"There were investigations. There was a visit to the land. Representatives of the different Kabilos and clans in Sukuta were involved in the process," Abdou said.
The Commission, according to the family, made an important distinction. Nemasu was reserved land. Salaji was not.
"The Commission resolved that Nemasu was reserved land, but Salaji was not reserved land," Abdou said.
He said the Commission visited the area and determined that land stretching from the direction of SBEC International School towards the forest area was not reserved land.
For the family, the decision brought relief. They believed they could finally move forward. In 2011, they began demarcating the farmland. But then came the letter.
The letter came from the Department of Lands and Surveys. It carried the reference number SL/69/2012/(33). It was issued under the Acquisition and Compensation Act 1991.
Its message was clear. The Government required land in Salaji for a public purpose. The notice asked anyone claiming an interest in the land to submit details of their claim within 21 days. It warned that land for which no claim was lodged could be treated as unoccupied. Then came another sentence. "The Minister intended to enter into possession of the land." The family was confused. They had already been through the Land Commission process. They said the Commission had visited the land. They said it had concluded that their Salaji farmland was not reserved.
So Kebba Nfamara Darboe began asking questions. The family went to the then Minister of Local Government and Lands, Lamin Waa Juwara. According to Abdou, he was always with his father in the process. He said the minister, Waa Juwara, said he knew nothing about the letter.
"He said he was not aware of it," Abdou said.
The family said Waa Juwara summoned Momodou F.K. Kolley, who was then Director of Physical Planning.
"Kolley said he did not know anything about the letter," Abdou said.
Foroyaa reviewed the letter, and it was without a date.
Abdou said the minister also summoned Ansu Fatty from the Physical Planning branch in Brikama.
"He also said he had no idea about the letter," Abdou said.
For the family, the questions were growing. Where had the letter come from and who authorised it? Why had the land been described as required for public purpose?
Then, Abdou said, the political leadership of the ministry changed.
"Within two weeks, Minister Waa Juwara, who was pursuing the matter and trying to find out where the letter came from, was removed," Abdou said.
"He was replaced by Momodou F.K. Kolley."
Three years later, the family said, another meeting took place. On 13 May 2014, the Ministry of Lands and Regional Government invited the Alkalo of Sukuta and seven Kabilo heads. Kebba Nfamara Darboe attended as the representative of the Manya Kunda clan. According to Abdou, the family arrived expecting to discuss the dispute. Instead, they received news they did not expect.
Abdou said Kolley told them that the Land Commission's decision had been revoked.
"He told my father and others that he had revoked the decision of the Land Commission," Abdou said.
The family could not understand how that had happened. The Land Commission, they said, had investigated the dispute. It had visited the site. Representatives of the Sukuta Kabilos had participated.Now, according to the family, they were being told that the decision no longer stood.
Kebba Nfamara Darboe began writing letters. On 8 June 2014, he wrote to the Ministry of Justice. He asked why the decision of the Land Commission had been cancelled. He said the family had been told that instead of retaining the land, they would receive 14 plots measuring 20 by 25 metres. But that was not the only thing that troubled him. He said some people were receiving clearance over the disputed area while others, including members of his own family, were denied.
He asked: "We, as poor farmers, where are we going to farm now when the Land Commission headed by Mr Mahoney has said that the Manya Kunda Kabilo is not affected by the Salaji Layout?"
The family waited. According to Abdou, there was no immediate answer. So his father wrote again.
On 29 October 2014, Kebba Nfamara Darboe wrote another letter. This time, he described what he called the family's unfair treatment. He reminded the Ministry of Justice that the land had been used for communal farming. He referred again to the Land Commission's site visit. He said the family had been told that it was not affected by the Salaji Extension. But he said the land was being demarcated. Some people, he alleged, were receiving clearance. Others were being denied. Then the letter turned personal.
"Most of the children in this Manya Kunda family are orphans who are seeing nowhere else but their farmland in Salaji," he wrote.
"Where does the future lie for them? We want this able Ministry [of Justice] to make justice for this poor family."
A response came the following month. On 25 November 2014, the Ministry of Justice acknowledged the petition. The Attorney General's Chambers said it had engaged the Ministry of Lands and Regional Government to find an amicable solution.The family was told: "You will be updated in due course of the progress made in our effort towards finding an amicable solution."
For Abdou, that letter created hope. But the family said the next step never came.
"The Ministry of Justice promised to convene a meeting between my father and the Ministry of Lands," Abdou said.
"That meeting never happened until today."
As the letters moved between offices, the land itself was changing. The family said people began appearing on the disputed farmland. Fences were built. Foundations were dug. Buildings followed.
The family said the area was gradually being occupied. And the question about public purpose became more difficult for them to ignore.
"The Government wrote that they were taking the land for public purposes," Abdou said.
"But today, the land is occupied by private individuals."
He looked at the history of the dispute and saw a contradiction.
A Government letter said the land was needed for public use. But years later, the family said, the area was occupied by private people. The family said portions of the land had been sold to third parties.
Abdou referred to several transactions involving individuals connected to the area.
He said former Governor Lamin Sanneh had allegedly sold land to Ebrima Tamba. He also referred to land which he said had been linked to Ndey Jatta, who had served as APRC women's leader (Yay Komping), and which he said was later purchased by Kebba Singhateh of Brufut.
The family said the transactions needed to be investigated.
"We have been saying that this is our farmland," Abdou said.
"But now almost the whole area is occupied."
Then he spoke about the family's children.
"The children of my father do not have any land to call their own," he said.
"Our only hope was taken and now other people are occupying it."
Before 2016, Abdou said, the family removed pegs placed on the land by people they considered trespassers. But as construction increased, the confrontations changed. The family began removing bricks. They filled the foundations that were dug. They said they were protecting their farmland.
The police became involved. Seven people were arrested in 2017, according to Abdou. They included his father, Kebba Nfamara Darboe, and Abdou himself, along with Sarjo Kono Cham, Amadou Cham, Kebba Drammeh, Baboucar Cham, also known as Bloco, and Malick Drammeh. The case went before the Brusubi Magistrates' Court. They were represented by Senior Counsel Lamin J. Darboe. The case began in 2017, and since 2019 there has been no hearing.
In 2019, they were arrested again. This time they were represented by Counsel Moses Richards. One witness, Abdou Kadir Sowe, testified. According to Abdou, the witness said his property had been demolished and told the court that he had obtained the land from Smiling Coast Real Estate. Abdou said the defence lawyer raised questions about the origin of the land.
"Our lawyer raised it and told him that the land was not from the Ministry of Lands," he said.
Another witness was expected, according to Abdou. That witness was Kebba Singhateh. Abdou said Singhateh had obtained land through a transaction involving Ndey Jatta, a former APRC 'Yay Komping.'
But the case did not proceed to the end. It stopped in 2018. Singhateh never testified.
"We believe they knew the evidence would expose a lot of things," Abdou said.
After the testimony of Abdou Kadir Sowe, he said, the matter was repeatedly adjourned.
"After that, there were adjournments," he said. "Up to now, there has been no conclusion."
The arrests and court appearances did not stop the family from writing. On 27 September 2017, Kebba Nfamara Darboe again wrote to the Ministry of Lands and Regional Government.
The subject of the letter was direct: "Request to Re-Visit Our Farmland at Salagi." The letter said the family depended on the land for survival.
"This is the only farmland that belongs to the Kabilo for their sustenance," he wrote.
He asked the Government to revisit the case.
"The Manya Kunda family will be grateful if the necessary actions are taken to restore what rightfully belongs to the Kabilo," the letter said.
But the dispute continued. In March 2019, the family hired a lawyer, Moses B. Johnson-Richards. He wrote to the Inspector General of Police. The lawyer said the Manya Kunda clan had inherited customary farmland measuring approximately 650 metres by 350 metres.
He referred to the Land Commission findings and the letters exchanged with Government offices. Then came another warning. The lawyer said portions of the land were being sold.
"A large number of portions of their lands have been sold over the years by unknown persons to unknown persons," he wrote.
The family, he said, feared watching the land disappear.
On 30 June 2019, the dispute reached another tense moment. The family said new structures had appeared on the land. They removed them. Then came the police invitation. Twelve people, including Kebba Nfamara Darboe, went to Brusubi Police Station.
"They told us to come to the police station to meet people from the Department of Lands and Surveys," Abdou said.
They went. They were detained.
"We arrived around 3 pm," he said. "We were detained."
The matter went before the court after four days in police detention. According to Abdou, each person was required to provide five sureties as part of the bail conditions by the court. He said the conditions were difficult to meet.
"The bail condition was D850,000," he said.
Ten of them spent the night at Mile 2 Prison. They were released the following day at about 5 pm. Their lawyer wrote again to the Inspector General of Police. The letter, dated 2 July 2019, described the arrest and detention as unlawful. The lawyer said the family had acted because it believed people had entered and developed their customary land.
"Our clients' instructions are that they have been held at the Brusubi Police Station against their will for the mere fact that they are protecting their constitutional right to own and enjoy their property without hindrance," the lawyer wrote.
The letter was copied to the Ministry of Justice. The family said the matter continued to move slowly.
Then, on 16 January 2022, Kebba Nfamara Darboe died. But the land dispute did not die with him. It passed to his children.
In May 2022, Abdou said he and his younger brothers, Omar, Baboucar, Kalifa and Sainey were arrested after another confrontation. He said the family removed bricks from the land and placed them on the highway.
The family was fasting. Then, Abdou said, armed officers came to their home.
"They came with AK47s," he said.
"They were armed, and our family members felt threatened."
He said one of his sisters, Binta Darboe, collapsed.
"My sister fell and collapsed because of what happened," he said.
The brothers were taken to Banjulding Police Station. They were charged with wilful damage to property, according to Abdou. But he said the family had not destroyed anyone's property.
"We only moved the bricks out of my late father's land," he said.
The brothers were released on bail. They reported to the police station for three weeks. Then Abdou said he had had enough.
"I told them to either take me to court or I would stop coming," he said.
"That was how that matter died."
A year later, he returned to the station to collect the ID cards of the people who bailed him and found a new station officer. He said he was told that the complainant, Ba Sawo Cham, had withdrawn the matter.
In 2024, Abdou said the police detained him again. He said he was held from Tuesday evening until Thursday afternoon. He said he was not charged.
The complaint, according to him, involved Ba Saho Cham, Kemo Sulu Cham, Ebrima Sol Cham and Mariama Fatty. He said he was accused of selling land to Ebrima Jaiteh. But Abdou said the land he sold fell within his father's only remaining portion of the family land.
"The land we sold was within my father's 60 by 60 metres," he said.
"The land sold was 30 by 40."
He said he was released without being charged and without bail after having horrible experiences in police detention. That was when he decided to take another route. He went to the Kombo North District Tribunal.
Abdou obtained power of attorney and brought a land case against Mariama Fatty. The case began moving through the tribunal. But he said progress was slow. There were adjournments. There were days when he arrived in the morning and waited until evening.
"I go there in the morning," he said. "Sometimes I sit there until 5 pm or 6 pm."
And most of the days, he said, the case was never called.
"At the end of the day, they will just give me another new date," he said.
Mariama Fatty was initially absent from several sittings, according to Abdou. The District Chief later ordered Kemo Sulu Cham to appear.
Abdou said Kemo told the Chief that he did not know anything about the land and had only become involved because Ba Saho Cham involved him. Kemo was asked where Mariama was. According to Abdou, an address in Brufut was given. But Abdou said the address was wrong.
"I later found her residence in Sukuta," he said.
Mariama eventually appeared. According to Abdou, on her first day before the district tribunal, she told the tribunal that she had limited knowledge of the dispute and that she was holding documents given to her by Ebrima Solo Cham.
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The tribunal asked that Janko Cham provide a power of attorney to a representative. The document was later produced.
According to Abdou, the power of attorney was produced on 15 July 2026 before the tribunal.
The case was adjourned to 28 July. Then to 10 August. Abdou said there were no sittings on either date. The matter was adjourned again to 24 August 2026. On that day, the case was not called. But for Abdou, there was another issue behind the repeated delays.
A name from an old political dispute had returned to the centre of the family's story. Abdou said he believed an old political dispute involving his late father and Momodou Lungs Jarju, the clerk of the Kombo North District Tribunal, had affected the atmosphere surrounding the case.
According to Abdou, the history dates back to the 2013 local government elections. At the time, APRC supporters in Sukuta were divided. Ebou Faal of Bijilo was selected as the APRC candidate. But another group supported Ebrima J. Cham, the APRC Youth Leader in Sukuta. Abdou said his father had supported Cham. He said most APRC supporters in Sukuta had wanted Cham. But he said a smaller group, including Momodou Lungs Jarju, supported Faal.
"The majority wanted Ebrima J. Cham," Abdou said. "But there was a minority group that wanted Ebou Faal."
Cham wrote to former President Yahya Jammeh on 11 March 2013. The letter complained about what Cham described as misconduct and injustice in the selection process.
"The entire selection of Sukuta ward councillorship was not free and fair," Cham wrote.
"The voice of the majority was not recognised."
The letter mentioned Lungs Jarju in connection with the dispute. Abdou said his father and others continued to support Cham. They nominated him. They campaigned for him. Cham won. And, according to Abdou, the old political disagreement did not disappear. He said it became relevant again when he took the land dispute before the tribunal.
"Lungs is still angry with my late father, and he is using this against me because the land concerns my late father and us," Abdou said.
He said that was why he had begun questioning the repeated adjournments.
"I have been going there and waiting the whole day," he said. "Sometimes the case is not even called."
For Abdou, the issue involving Momodou Lungs Jarju had become one of the major concerns in the family's fight. He said that when he asks simple questions of Lungs Jarju or the Chief concerning the delays, he does not get answers.
He wanted the handling of the tribunal matter examined. He wanted the reasons for the repeated delays explained.
The family's demands were now clear. They want compensation for the Nemasu land they said had been taken after being declared reserved land. They want the Government to investigate what they described as foul play surrounding the Salaji farmland.
And they wanted to know how land said to be needed for the public ended up, according to them, in private hands. They also wanted an investigation into the alleged role of officials and the repeated use of police against members of the family.
"We want the Government to investigate everything," Abdou said.
"We want them to establish the truth."
Then he returned to the question that had followed his father from office to office, from the Land Commission to Government ministries, from police stations to courtrooms.
"If the Government took the land for a public purpose, then the Government should explain how the land ended up being occupied by private individuals," he said.
The late Kebba Nfamara Darboe did not live to see an answer, his family said. He died in 2022. His children were left to continue the struggle.
"They took our farmland," Abdou said.
"We lost our land in Nemasu and we lost the land in Salaji."
Then he spoke of the family's future.
"The children of my father do not have any land to call their own," he said.
For more than 15 years, his family had written letters. They had attended meetings. They had gone before commissions. They had faced police arrests. They had spent nights in detention. They had gone to court. They had returned to the tribunal. And the same question remained.
"Our father fought for this land until he died," Abdou said.
"Today, we, his children, are still fighting."
The family wants answers.
