The origins of land ownership may be debated, but in The Gambia today, the consequences of lack of appropriate safeguards are clear: our land is in crisis. Our land is crying beneath our feet. Therefore, if we are to build a just and prosperous Gambia, we must begin with the land beneath our feet — not as something to be carved up and sold/resold- causing disputes of ownership-, but as the very source of our identity and survival.
Although there is an urgent need to raise stronger opposition against the unregulated sale of the land, sadly the damage may already be done. This reality makes land reform not just important, but necessary and very urgent. I submit that measures taken by previous governments and the present have not demonstrably protected the vulnerable individuals and communities from having their inheritance/identity and wealth stolen by greedy, politically connected individuals or businesses with deep pockets.
Most readers will not disagree with the position that across our regions, the hunger for land has reached boiling point, creating scars on 1) the land, 2) individuals/families- forcing some off their lands/fields and 3) society by dividing and weakening our bonds. In some cases, ancestral or communal lands are being divided, fenced off, and sold or resold, leading to disputes and expensive court cases over ownership. Some lands are also being taken by governments or institutions, often without informing or seeking the informed consent of the communities that have lived on, owned, and cared for them for generations. This results in the erosion of traditional land rights and the displacement of long-standing community custodians of the land.
Yes, we can probably agree that some of our most serious land injustices were committed by colonisers, but it is also the case now that our clueless and self-serving governments, politically connected individuals, some communal landowners and businesses have become the largest perpetrators of deliberate unchecked injustices against individuals, families, themselves and communities.
The state is often nowhere to be seen- a reality that is not about to change with the launch of the land reform committee by the current administration’s judiciary. In fact, the state has not only joined in the injustice by failing to protect the land, but it participates in the very dispossession and unforgiveable destruction it should prevent or address. Call me a pessimist, but it is my strong submission that the beneficiaries from the current Judiciary’s work may be the Committee members and the consultant, not the landowners or those who bring their cases before the courts. It would be beautiful to be proven wrong.
Under Yahya Jammeh’s government, he treated our land as his personal property. But even years after he has gone into exile, little seems to have changed. Just as in Jammeh’s time, ancestral land seems to be dispossessed and used to reward loyalty for no justifiable reason. We have system that is badly broken wherever one looks– it has woefully failed the people.
The truth is, many Gambians have limited to no legal protection over the land they work and live on. In rural areas, most communal landowners lack legal recognition or land titles, making them vulnerable to exploitation by a clueless government, wealthy and politically connected individuals who buy their valuable land cheaply and force them off it. Even when land titles exist, they are often meaningless due to outdated/adulterated entries in the registries, vague boundaries, insatiable greed and widespread corruption. As if that is not enough, the legal system favours the wealthy, leaving ordinary people without justice.
We need to rethink what land means. Land is not just a private commodity to be bought and sold/resold like a handbag or a car. Given that the government has failed, credible civil society groups and academics should step in, inform/educate the rural communities to view land not merely as property, but as a shared ecological, cultural, and spiritual resource meant to sustain future generations, not just to profit a few in the present.
And here is something that seems to receive little attention. When it comes to land injustice, women probably suffer the most. In many communities, land passes only through the male line. This must change. I hope we can agree that women mostly feed the country and that they deserve to own land, inherit land, and protect land just as men do. I submit that we need a competent and committed government, not obtained in the current, to seriously address the land issue. I have very little faith that a judiciary reform of the type launched can fix land disputes.
The ground we live on needs fixing, but the Barrow government is not up to that task…
It is time for our land to stop being a source of conflict and become a source of peace, prosperity, and unity. It should be recognised that land belongs not just to those who own it but to those who need it- e.g., to grow food-, nurture it, and will pass it on.
The Gambia needs a comprehensive land reform policy and the establishment of an inclusive, visionary Land Reform Committee. This Committee should consist of individuals who are directly affected by land injustices and credible representatives from key government ministries (e.g., Ministries of Lands and Regional Government, Agriculture, Justice, Forestry and the Environment, Education, Tourism and Culture, Women’s Affairs, Youth and Sports, Parks and Wildlife).
However, my concern is the lack of goodwill, credibility and accountability within these ministries and society at large. Government ministries, agencies, and much of society lack a credible and critical presence, with many complicit in the short-term, self-serving unregulated land trade. The government agencies such as the Department of Physical Planning and developers ignore population growth and the need for proper infrastructure such as transport and sewerage systems.
In my view, we all need to dance a different kind of jazz to this issue if we are to halt what may be described as the “Great Gambian Land Problem”. If nothing changes- due to the size of our country-, generations to come may face a landless future, with no parks, open spaces, or even cemeteries. Some readers may take the view that this scenario is already evident in parts of the country– some cemeteries are already full.
I submit that the voices in our communities need to change; well-meaning elders who remember the ancestral histories; women who feed and care for our families and the youth must be heard. The youth must be given a voice for they will not only inherit the land but will have the responsibility to protect it because the land represents their identity and livelihood. As farmers, smallholders, herdsmen, and fishermen are not only the backbone of the rural economy, and the source of much of our livelihoods, these groups should be included in the Land Reform Committee.
We also need civil society organisations, rural and village associations (e.g., the Village Development Committees, Kabila kaffos, and other such organisations) working wherever they are, to organise and advocate for fair land use. We must include legal experts, laypersons, surveyors, and land use planners who can ensure titles are real, enforceable, and based on justice.
We need academics, researchers from the Gambia and beyond to offer innovative models on land trusts, indigenous-led land governance, cooperative land stewardship and gender-equal inheritance systems. It must be our aspiration that any reform must not marginalise the vulnerable groups but must be guided by the principles of inclusivity, and transparency in its decisions and accountable to the people as well as being well-rooted in local reality, and committed to not just redistribution, but also to restoration (of justice, and of dignity).
We need a bold new vision for land in The Gambia, a vision that goes beyond empty promises and the setting up of an Interdepartmental Committee by the judiciary whose report/recommendations and even legislation will do little more than gather dust- just like the others. True land reform must restore ancestral justice, protect the environment, empower women, secure rural livelihoods, and build a sustainable future by regulating land sales with appropriate safeguards as well as the rewilding of the land. Sadly, the current administration is too hopeless and ineffectual to deliver such a bold new vision.
