Sister Jabou,
I agree,debate on land in is very important. In many parts of Africa the
debate about land reform has been gathering momentum but very little has
happened since independence. In the case of the Gambia we know that the
issue about land has always been a concern to many for the past 30 years. In
the rural areas, many inter-communal disputers concern land particularly
farmlands and occasionally even the open access areas used for grazing.
Therefore, it was unfortunate that anybody would simplify this issue in
terms of "tribalism''. I think we should learn to discuss issues based on
their merits instead of jumping to such serious conclusions, which have the
effect of marring the essence of the discussions. Because let's not forget
that land is so important that in the Gambia disputes over ownership had led
to serious conflicts within the same families, same villages and between 2
or more villages of the same tribe. So, the attribution has no place in this
particular case concerning TAF and Brufut. Perhaps it was a mistake that
this attribution came up.
Anybody who understands traditional societies should appreciate the fact
that indigenous tenurial management of land, like customs dealing with
marriage and divorce, inheritance etc, has been an integral part of life in
Africa since time immemorial. It was so strong that even the colonialists
avoided direct interference, safe for areas they settled in e.g. south
africa, zimbabwe, kenya.
So far the debate has brought up many interesting issues, e.g. sister
Jabou's arguments about equity of access to and ownership of land, Mr
Sanneh's allusion to investments and decentralization and the point raised
by several other members (Manneh, Darbo etc) concerning the rights of the
community of Brufu over their land. I hope I can make a small contribution
as well.
First, the legal setting: two main laws govern Land in the Gambia - Lands
(Banjul and Kombo St Mary) Act of 1935-as amended, and Lands (Provinces) Act
of 1935 as amended. During the colonial period land under the former was
called Crown land that became State land after independence. So in Banjul
and Kombo St Mary land is held under freehold and individual titles;
freehold estates (mostly in Banjul) are permanent possessions while
ownership of lease titles is defined by the terms of the lease normally 99
years or so. Technically, land in these areas is considered "state land"-
i.e. real estate that the government can utilize directly without recourse
to local authorities. But when the use of land involves freehold estate or
where the security of peoples' livelihood is involved, then those affected
must be compensated.
Under the lands provinces Act, all provincial land is administered under
traditional customary tenure through local authorities, chiefs and alkalolus
, lineages, families etc.. I believe Brufut falls under this category, which
means that according to existing law, the local authorities and their people
should have a say in any use of land under their jurisdiction. But if the
TAF project site falls within the TDA, then the government has powers of
allocation if it is in accordance with the land use purpose of the TDA.
(This in part explains why tribalism is totally out of place here)
In what circumstances can the State "take over" provincial land? According
to law, the State can take over any land for public purposes ( ie to build
highways, schools, stadiums etc) In all such cases the owners of any land so
alienated would be compensated as provided for by the Compensation Act, for
example, the compounds that were affected in the construction of Bundung
highway,the expansion of serrekunda market etc, did receive some
compensation. The question to ask is whether the TAF project is a private
or public venture. From the discussions, the answer is clear- it is private.
Even if one argues that the venture would provide housing for people, one
would have to state who those people are- perhaps not the majority of
members of the Brufut community who may not be able afford the housing units
to be provided. So, the point then is that any such venture should call for
close consultation with the community. Apart from the issue of the use of
their traditional land, the other point is the impact of such developments
on their communities. Those who live in democratic societies of North
America and Europe know the importance of getting the support of communities
in any major development program in their localities. So, although I do not
know the details of the TAF project and the role of the government in seeing
it through, it seems that as far as the law on land goes the community of
Brufut has a major stake in this matter.
I will now briefly comment on some specific issues raised by sister Jabou
and Mr. Sanneh.
Sister Jabou's concern about equity is very legitimate. As I understand it
this concern is about finding ways of improving the use of our common
resource - land as part of the democratization agenda. This is of course a
complex issue and never devoid of politics and sentiments. Therefore, the
best approach is for us to know the strengths and shortcomings of the
present tenure system and find ways of improving it. In a number of former
colonies of the South Pacific for example, government converted all
customary land to state land at disastrous consequences. In the end they had
to revert to the status quo to avoid further political and social
difficulties. So what most experts advise is to adopt a gradual approach to
land reform keeping in mind the needs of vulnerable groups especially women
and the poor and the productivity of land. (Incidentally, under customary
tenure women rarely own land). Another danger in the alienation of land to
the state is that where the state is inefficient or corrupt, then land,
especially prime land, would all fall into the hands of those with
significant means- at the expense of the weaker members of society. Having
said that, it should be noted that in the Gambia land under customary tenure
has been widely shared with others both within and outside the community who
did not possess land, eg strange farmers who used to come seasonally and
cultivate large parcels of land in the rural areas; many others simply
stayed on the land. As far as some parts of the Kombos are concerned one
problem has been the arbitrary manner in which alkalolus allocated land. For
example, they sold land to people with money without consulting the rest of
the community thus creating major distortions in ownership and undermining
the integrity of the traditional/customary tenure system.
Mr. Sanneh raised the important point about investment. It is true that land
ownership rights and the security of tenure have been linked to investment
incentives. But in many African countries the greatest disincentives to
investments both domestic and foreign are the poor governance standards,
corruption, the legislative climate, labour supply etc, etc. The land
question has not been a major hindrance to investments in the Gambia. This
is in fact true for many other African countries, according to a 1993 study
of 7 countries (based on previous Worl Bank studies), namely that
indigenous systems of land management, where the rights of local communities
are recognized, do not hinder productivity or investments. In fact a case
can be made of the low productivity of government-engineered projects. For
example, to many observers, the efficient use of the huge track of prime
coastal land stretching from Cape point to Kartong the government carved out
for tourism development (TDA) remains highly questionable, mainly because
of the way land in this area was allocated. As a result, many plots in the
TDA have not been optimally utilized and yet the government has been unable
to further rationalize land use to facilitate the efficiency of investments
there.Concerning decentralization, it should be expected that such a process
would support the greater empowerment of localities in all important areas
of decesion making, land matters included. The challenge here is to ensure
that decentralized units and activities cater for the interests of those
they represent in the general contxt of the national interest.
Unfortunately, the efforts at decentralization have produced very little
results, although in recent years, basic services like the issuing of
passports and bith certificates have been somewhat decentralized.
AT
>From: Jabou Joh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: State Land?
>Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 16:41:05 EDT
>
>Hi Sidi,
>
>Good to hear from you, and I hope things go smoothly for you and the family
>in this transition. Thanks for your imput in this discussion, and i look
>forward to your contrbution to this topic which I am sure will be
>informative. I actually do not have a lot of knowledge about this issue vis
>a
>vis what government has done or proposed to do in the past. I must confess,
>I
>am just presenting my personal view of this situation and my ideas on the
>issue. Again ,thanks.
>
>Regards,
>Jabou Joh
>
>In a message dated 7/8/2001 3:23:16 PM Central Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> >
> > Jabou, Dave and others,
> >
> > The role of Government in allocating land to private investors is an
> > important issue which needs to be addressed urgently. I have very little
> > time these days as I wrap-up my affairs at the AfDB to start a new
> > professional life. As soon as I have some free time, I will comment on
> > this issue and the implications of having to abort TAF's project for the
> > second time running. I am concerned about the impact that the current
> > dispute will have on investor confidence in The Gambian economy which is
> > already very low. I must say that Shelter Afrique's Management and Board
> > must be wondering what is going on in Banjul since they are
>part-financing
> > the project.
> >
> > Dr Jeng and others have outlined the land tenure system in The Gambia wh
> > ich
> > is a good starting point. While I appreciate the concerns expressed by
>the
> > Manneh Kunda Kabilo of Brufut, I am also concerned about the net effect
>of
> > these disputes. First it was Bakau and now Brufut. The much
>talked-about
> > decentralisation of provincial administration, first mooted in the mid
>80s
> > must be given top priority by the Department of Local Government which,
>if
> > properly implemented, will obviate the need for constant central
>government
> > intervention on issues that are purely local in nature. Cheers!
> >
> > Sidi Sanneh
> >
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>You may also send subscription requests to
>[log in to unmask]
>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your
>full name and e-mail address.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From: Jabou Joh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: State Land?
>Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 16:41:05 EDT
>
>Hi Sidi,
>
>Good to hear from you, and I hope things go smoothly for you and the family
>in this transition. Thanks for your imput in this discussion, and i look
>forward to your contrbution to this topic which I am sure will be
>informative. I actually do not have a lot of knowledge about this issue vis
>a
>vis what government has done or proposed to do in the past. I must confess,
>I
>am just presenting my personal view of this situation and my ideas on the
>issue. Again ,thanks.
>
>Regards,
>Jabou Joh
>
>In a message dated 7/8/2001 3:23:16 PM Central Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> >
> > Jabou, Dave and others,
> >
> > The role of Government in allocating land to private investors is an
> > important issue which needs to be addressed urgently. I have very little
> > time these days as I wrap-up my affairs at the AfDB to start a new
> > professional life. As soon as I have some free time, I will comment on
> > this issue and the implications of having to abort TAF's project for the
> > second time running. I am concerned about the impact that the current
> > dispute will have on investor confidence in The Gambian economy which is
> > already very low. I must say that Shelter Afrique's Management and Board
> > must be wondering what is going on in Banjul since they are
>part-financing
> > the project.
> >
> > Dr Jeng and others have outlined the land tenure system in The Gambia wh
> > ich
> > is a good starting point. While I appreciate the concerns expressed by
>the
> > Manneh Kunda Kabilo of Brufut, I am also concerned about the net effect
>of
> > these disputes. First it was Bakau and now Brufut. The much
>talked-about
> > decentralisation of provincial administration, first mooted in the mid
>80s
> > must be given top priority by the Department of Local Government which,
>if
> > properly implemented, will obviate the need for constant central
>government
> > intervention on issues that are purely local in nature. Cheers!
> >
> > Sidi Sanneh
> >
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>You may also send subscription requests to
>[log in to unmask]
>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your
>full name and e-mail address.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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