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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 21 Apr 2022 : 08:28:35
Bring Back Our Lands! Sack and Prosecute Musa Drammeh.
By Madi Jobarteh
Minister of Lands Musa Drammeh must either be thinking that the Gambia is a 17th century tiny fiefdom, or he is such a myopic person or both that he thinks corruption, patronage and abuse of office are normal. It is high time that Musa Drammeh is contained and removed from public office and prosecuted lest he plunges this country into deep red fire!
Musa Drammeh must be told that public office is not Drammeh Kunda or Barrow Kunda or Jobarteh Kunda for the purpose of self-aggrandizement. Rather he must know and accept that each and every public office is established by the Constitution for the sole purpose of serving nothing other than the public good. Those who hold public office do not hold it for themselves. Rather elected and appointed public officials are considered by the Constitution as public trustees or servants of the people. Public officials are neither kings nor queens nor are they special beyond and above the people. Period.
Hence the recent allocation of public lands to the Vice President and a bunch of ministers and private individuals is utterly out of place in any civilized, modern democratic republic. The ridiculous rationalization given by Musa Drammeh is utterly unjustified and illegal. It is even more nonsensical to claim that such practice was happening since the time of Jawara and therefore justified to continue with this practice today. There is no legal basis for such malpractice!
In the first place, there is no provision in the Constitution or any land law that empowers the President or the National Assembly, much less a Minister to donate public lands to any public official or private citizen. Unfortunately, in this country, public officials at the highest level have always arrogated to themselves certain services, goods, and benefits just because they claim to hold public office. Such practice is based on no law, rather it is a practice they have created for and by themselves which is based on nothing other than to illegally enrich themselves by turning public office into a self-serving tool.
The claim that the Minster made that the allocated lands were mere replacements for lands taken from these individuals is an insult and willful attempt to hoodwink citizens in justifying theft. It was this Government that set up the Janneh Commission which had documented all the landed properties that Jammeh had illegally taken. If there is any citizen whose land was taken by Jammeh, the normal thing is for the Government to return that land to its rightful owner. Land does not disappear like a burning candle or a matchstick in a haystack. Therefore, if any minister had lost his or her lands to Yaya Jammeh, what Musa Drammeh got to do is to go back to the Janneh Commission Report to identify that land and give it back to the rightful owner.
In fact, if the Minister’s claim is true, which I doubt that these Ministers lands were taken by Jammeh, then what about the lands of many more Gambians whose lands were also taken away. The fact is Dr. Isatou Touray, Ebrima Sillah, Bakary Badgie, Dawda Jallow, Amadou Lamin Samateh, Fatou Kinteh, Amie Fabureh, Claudiana Cole, Saffiatou Samba Tangara, Alkali Conteh and Sheriff Tambadou were not ministers during the tenure of Yaya Jammeh. That means they were ordinary citizens like all of us. Therefore, why give them public lands as replacement or simply because they requested for it when there are thousands of Gambians without even a single land and while others’ lands were also taken by Jammeh?
I call on all these individuals to return these lands right now otherwise they are nothing but stinking and shameless thieves who are exploiting public office for personal gain. All of these individuals already have their own well-built homes. But even if they don’t have a home, they are well paid from where they should go to buy their own lands elsewhere. As public officials, they are paid a salary and they should live within their salary or any legally and legitimately earned income. Land is not a salary and certainly it cannot be an incentive.
For that matter, I hereby call on Gambians to protest this blatant act of corruption and abuse of office. Stand up and speak up now and do not let unscrupulous individuals without conscience abuse our lives and future for their selfish interest. I call on political parties and CSOs to stage a massive and unending protest until these lands are taken back from these people. I call on citizens and CSOs to go to the courts to challenge this shameless daylight armed robbery led by Musa Drammeh in the middle of Ramadan! Shame!
Above all, I call on the National Assembly to pass a motion of censure as per section 75 of the Constitution to dismiss Musa Drammeh and order the IGP to arrest and prosecute him for abuse of office, fraud, corruption, and economic crimes. Since 2017, Musa Drammeh has become the single most corrupt, abusive, and uncontrollable minister in the Gambia. His blatant disregard of the law and the national interest and direct interference with local councils and mismanagement of public lands is scandalous, unacceptable, and criminal.
The culture of corruption and patronage that Musa Drammeh is perpetrating in this country is a threat to national security. He has shown total disregard for public interest and the future of this country. This man thinks the Government is a personal and family farm to enrich himself and his political allies. Politicians like Musa Drammeh are able to damage the public good only because citizens allow him to do so. Until Gambians are willing and ready to make politicians face severe risks and consequences for their decisions, we shall continue to be bastardised and plundered by these corruption and incompetent minsters like Musa Drammeh and his ilk until eternity.
Musa Drammeh should be sacked and prosecuted. Now!
For The Gambia Our Homeland
Related Topic: https://www.kerrfatou.com/minister-drammeh-confirms-ministers-receives-lands/
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| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 29 Apr 2022 : 20:06:42
Minister Musa Drammeh Threatens To Take Me To Court
By Madi Jobarteh
I have just received a letter from the lawyers of Minister of Lands and Regional Governments Musa Drammeh accusing me of defaming their client, Musa Drammeh in my article, ‘Bring Back Our Lands! Sack and Prosecute Musa Drammeh’ published on my Facebook page on 20th April 2022, and therefore their client is seeking the following from me:
• Provide an apology and a declaration that the allegations referred to are false and defamatory and cause such apology and declaration to be published in the social media site on which your posting was made, and which has given reason for our client's complaint; and to
• Remove the publication in its entirety and the defamatory statements to prevent further harm to our client.
They said if I do not do the above within 7 days, they will take legal action against me!
I wish to categorically state that I stand by my comments which are true and justifiable. I will not retract them, nor will I apologize to the Minister for these comments. I am ready to happily meet him in court!
It should now be clear to all Gambians that we have many men and women in public office who wish to enjoy all the benefits and privileges of public office but do not wish to follow the rule of law much less to be held accountable. It is obvious that the land allocations made by the Minister to a group of Ministers, friends and family violates the State Lands Act. Instead of the Minister withdrawing from infringing on the law, he maintains his position in which he is aided and abetted by two other public officials, Minister of Information Ebrima Sillah and Government Spokesman Ebrima Sankareh.
Therefore, by seeking to threaten me, Minister Musa Drammeh is exposing his inclination to continue to flout the rule of law and damage the public interest by seeking to force me to apologize to him and retract my opinions about his manner of performing his official duties.
Musa Drammeh’s objective is not only to silence me, but also, if successful therefore to effectively silence each and every voice of any citizen who seeks to hold public officials accountable. This tantamount to introducing dictatorship and fear by legal means. Such action is only meant to kill democracy and good governance, thereby perpetrating corruption, abuse of office and illegality in society. This only shows that the biggest threat to democracy see not military generals, but rather elected and appointed public officials.
I put it to Minister Musa Drammeh that he holds the position of a Minister just in case he is not fully aware. Section 72(4)(b) and (c) of the Constitution has amply stipulated that Ministers should refrain from engaging in any conflict of interest situation, as well as refrain from using any official information provided to them to enrich themselves. Since he assumed office, Musa Drammeh has carried out a number of decisions that tantamount to conflict of interest and abuse.
As a citizen, the Constitution gives me the right and duty to hold the Government and its agents accountable through the right to freedom of expression about the manner in which the Government and its agents including Ministers perform their duties. Like everyone else, the opinions I express, pleasantly or unpleasantly are within my rights so long as I do not injure his human rights and dignity, or subject him to hate and discrimination on account of his ethnicity, religion, origin, sex or disability and any other status.
While I will always hold Mr. Drammeh and all public officials accountable, I have never subjected Mr. Drammeh or any public official to hate speech or any defamation, and I shall always defend Mr. Drammeh’s human rights and dignity.
Therefore, I thank Musa Drammeh for this initiative because it is high time these issues land in the courts so that all stones will be turned inside out in the best interest of our dear motherland, The Gambia.
For The Gambia Our Homeland |
| Momodou |
Posted - 27 Apr 2022 : 17:05:28
The Misguided Narratives of Minister Ebrima Sillah and Spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh on the Land Allocations
By Madi Jobarteh
The allocation of state lands to citizens is guided by the State Lands Act which has set out the necessary criteria for eligibility. State agents such as ministers Musa Drammeh, Ebrima Sillah and the Government Spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh do not have the monopoly of knowledge and the loudest voice to impose on us their description and interpretation of reality. Surely conscious citizens will not buy their cheap arguments and infantile outbursts as we hear from Minster of Information Ebrima Sillah and Government Spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh on Coffee Time with Peter Gomez on West Coast Radio Tuesday edition.
Yes, the State Lands Act empowers the Minister to grant State lands to individuals for residential or other purposes. But the regulations provide a process to follow. The way and manner these recent allocations are done raises genuine doubts about whether the right processes were followed. If the Drammeh, Sillah and Sankareh insist that the right process was followed, then let them share the full information so that citizens can see how the decision was arrived at. Transparency.
For example, Part 1 of the subsidiary legislation to the State Lands Act provides that the Department of Lands and Surveys receive applications, review, and advise the Minister accordingly to grant successful applications. There are eligibility criteria to be considered for land allocation as set out in Second Schedule Regulation 6. Among the set of criteria is that those individuals who already have at least one plot of land of their own do not qualify to be considered for allocation (Clause 5). Therefore, can the Minister Musa Drammeh inform the public that all the beneficiaries have not a single plot of land of their own?
If they have, which is highly likely then what is the justification for allocating them a state land again? It is rather unfortunate that the defense put forward by Sillah and Sankareh was just to say the Minister acted within the law. But is it really lawful and legitimate? The allocation of state lands to individuals, especially public officials has never been transparent in this country. Yet we know it is common for State officials to get together to share public property among themselves and then throw dust into our face that the law was followed.
If they were truly guided by the law, then let them be transparent. It is rather interesting to have a document that is bearing only the names of Ministers, presidential advisors, and private individuals who are connected with the State as the beneficiaries of land allocations. Is this a coincidence or is it by design? Let there be transparency.
What is even more scandalous is for Sillah and Sankareh to defend the decision of Minister Drammeh on the basis that the fathers and mothers of critics also benefited from state lands allocation since the days of Jawara to Jammeh. If those allocations were wrong, then they are condemnable whether their children say it or not. However, the alleged wrongs of the past cannot be a justification for new wrongs today.
I know that my mother and father in Boraba are citizens of this country, yet they have never benefited from any land allocation from the State. Even if they had, I would condemn it if their acquisition were not guided by the law and conducted in a transparent manner. Thus, it is utterly scandalous and hypocritical for Sillah and Sankareh to claim that people who condemn the decision by Minister Musa Drammeh for the allocations did not speak about lands donated to their own parents and relatives previously. Let him name those individuals. Such a condescending comment is utterly unbecoming of a public official, especially a Minister towards citizens.
Therefore, if we should go by the argument by Ebrima Sillah that Ministers are Gambians like any other Gambian and deserve to get a plot of land from the state, then let the State give land to each and every other Gambian too. Otherwise, the state is engaged in discrimination and preferential treatment which is effectively turning the Gambia into Animal Farm where are all citizens are equal, but some citizens are more equal than others.
In fact, Clause 5 of the eligibility criteria says if one has been in rented accommodation for over 5 years then that person should be given priority over others. Certainly, Ebrima Sillah and all of his fellow beneficiaries are not renting. Not only do all of them have their own compounds, but they also have the financial means to buy a fresh plot of land for themselves. If conscience should prevail, they should have kept away so that state lands can be allocated to thousands of poor Gambian workers who are renting for decades and do not have a single plot of land of their own.
On my part, having a compound of my own in Kembujeh, I shall never apply for a State land. Never. My conscience will not allow me. Therefore, I hereby call on all these ministers and those private citizens to return the plot of land allocated to them by Musa Drammeh because they already have their own plots of land. Even if they don’t, they can afford to buy one. There are far more less privileged Gambians who need land more than them.
If there is any advice to give to these ministers and their allies, it is that they should exercise humility, contentment, and honesty. Yes, Sillah is a citizen like any other citizen, but he is not the only one whose land was stolen or seized by Yaya Jammeh. The eligibility criteria set out in the regulations did not indicate that one can be compensated for lost land. Therefore, if Ebrima will allow conscience to guide and prevail on him, let him return the land. If indeed his claim that his land was stolen or seized by the previous regime, the advisable thing to do is to go to court to claim it back. This is what a civilised person with conscience and commitment to the rule of law and justice would do. A decent person should not seek and enjoy undeserved benefits and privileges by hiding behind the law and officialdom!
For The Gambia Our Homeland |
| Momodou |
Posted - 22 Apr 2022 : 00:31:54
GOV’T EXPLAINS LAND ALLOCATIONS TO MINISTERS, OTHERS
The Standard: APRIL 21, 2022
By Lamin Cham
https://standard.gm/gambia-news/%EF%BF%BCgovt-explains-land-allocations-to-ministers-others/
A senior government official has revealed to The Standard that a leaked document listing land allocations to government officials doing the rounds on social media is authentic, but it is a legal allocation conducted in observance of due process.
Our source also revealed that the land is not part of the area locally called Strasser recently allocated to the community of Brufut for a sports complex.
On Tuesday, a list emerged on social media indicating allocation of land to ministers and other people at the posh Brufut Heights attracting critical comments, some of them accusing the Barrow government of stealing the land and sharing it among themselves.
The Standard reached out to a senior government official familiar with state land allocation, who explained that the said land was forfeited to the state by a commission of enquiry headed by Basirou Mahoney in 2011. “It is not even located at the Brufut Heights but at Bijilo Annex,” our source said. He continued: “The Gambia government then decided to reassign it to its servants, agents and other Gambians including ministers. There is nothing wrong with government allocating lands to servants or people in need of it as long as it followed due process which has been done in this case. It is therefore not correct to say that the said land was stolen from people and distributed among government officials. The place has always been a state land,” our source said.
The Standard also managed to reach the minister of Lands Musa Drammeh who confirmed that the allocations at the Bijilo Annex are part of a routine and normal government allocation to government officials or any Gambian. He added that “none of the beneficiaries has ever been allocated government land anywhere,” he said. |
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