Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The High Court on Tuesday heard detailed testimony on how lands forfeited from former president Yahya Jammeh were managed following the findings of the Janneh Commission in an ongoing case involving former Lands Minister Abba Sanyang and six others.
Buba Sanyang, former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Lands and currently Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries, told the court that he served in the Lands Ministry from 2017 to 2023, acting as both an adviser and technical lead on governance matters.
His responsibilities, he said, included overseeing daily operations and providing technical guidance to the minister.
Recalling a 2022 incident central to the case, Sanyang testified that a dispute arose over a forfeited property in Kassa Kunda village, which he said had been sold to the Village Development Committee (VDC) by former minister Abba Sanyang.
He explained that “forfeited properties” referred to assets identified by the Janneh Commission and subsequently transferred to the state. These properties were later subjected to a structured review process involving both a technical and a ministerial committee.
“Some of the lands were reverted back to their owners; others were reverted back to the state for planning purposes,” he told the court, adding that the ministerial committee comprised the ministers of lands, tourism, and justice.
According to the witness, hundreds of communities across the country were affected by the forfeiture process, including Kassa Kunda, Sifoe, Brufut, and Georgetown. He noted that the former president had acquired these lands through a mix of donations, purchases, and, in some cases, forceful acquisition.
However, presiding judge Justice Ebrima Jaiteh cautioned against revisiting how the lands were originally obtained, stressing that the Janneh Commission’s findings were final and carried the legal weight of a High Court judgment.
“The forfeiture has happened and the lands are given to the state. If you want to challenge the findings of the Janneh Commission, that’s not acceptable,” Justice Jaiteh said, directing the proceedings to focus on post-forfeiture actions.
State Counsel S.L. Jorbateh argued that the prosecution’s line of questioning was relevant, noting that some communities claimed they were unaware of how the lands were transferred to the former president.
Justice Jaiteh, however, maintained that any grievances regarding the commission’s findings should be directed to the Court of Appeal, not revisited in the current proceedings.
Providing further insight into the process, Sanyang said a government-established technical committee reviewed the commission’s recommendations and submitted proposals to a ministerial committee, which in turn made final submissions to Cabinet for decision-making.
“The technical committee goes through all the recommendations of the Janneh Commission and makes further technical recommendations to the ministerial committee for a decision at the Cabinet level,” he said, adding that administrative steps included cancelling lease records through court processes.
He told the court that while most forfeited lands were returned to the state, some were sold and others fully handed back to communities. The properties in question included islands, wetlands, forests, and undeveloped land.
Communities seeking restitution, he added, would formally apply to the ministry, either requesting full ownership or partial allocation of the land.
On Kassa Kunda specifically, Sanyang confirmed that the community had submitted a request for the return of its land and that the property was among those reverted to the Ministry of Lands for planning purposes.
The case was adjourned to April 27, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. for the continuation of the prosecution’s first witness testimony.
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