The on-going Brufut land dispute brings to light the need to revisit our land laws. From the postings it seems that there is some confusion between traditional user-rights and ownership. My understanding is traditional / customary claims to land in the Gambia are only usufruct. That is no one really owns land! 

The basic assumption is that the government of the day will, without fear or favor allocate land to the one who will best serve the best interest of the Gambia. 

This law is the basis for many re-allocation of land in the Gambia, from Kanifing to Koina for either establishing public facilities,i.e. forest parks, hospitals and schools, to private dueling (Kanifing and Bakoteh housing estates). The Tourist Development Area (designated nearly 10 years ago) is one such place to allow private commercial development of tourist facilities. In short there are plenty of examples of past re-allocations.

As we learn the details of this particular case, some questions that come to mind are:

How is common interest over community interest established when considering re-allocation of land? I mean when is re-allocating land for TDA  / real estate development (potentially a common national interest) more important than the local community use. 

Are there any procedures for negotiating with the local communities when their land is identified for re-allocation?

Are there procedures for compensating the affected communities? Who determines who gets what and when?

With the Brufut experience we must confront the issues from various angles.
1. The Legislature.  
our NAM should look into ways to:
- do away with this USUFRUCT tenure system. I think we can do this by either incorporating district, village and  clan lands. Let the owners decide who use their lands and for what.
-Identify when and for what purpose can the government intervene when it comes to land transfers. The question is should central government be involved in allocating land to private commercial real estate developers? Does such a move risk portraying the government as making deals with business tycoons?

2. The Executive.
Decentralize decision making on land matters. The SOS for Local government cannot be seen speaking for any one interest. The government should  be seen as facilitator and not a party to land transfer negotiations.
Educate people about existing land laws to avoid confusing user rights with ownership. 
Develop clear policies for negotiations and compensations when it comes to land transfers.

3. The Communities
Learn about your land rights. 
Explore your options in the courts and legislature.
Seriously look at what you are offered. 


Malanding Jaiteh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~