By: Fatou Krubally
The Registrar General at the Ministry of Justice, Abdoulie Colley, has told MPs that a government White Paper is sufficient to cancel property titles forfeited by former President Yahya Jammeh and his associates.
Colly made the disclosure on Wednesday when he faced the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee probing the sale and disposal of assets identified by the Janneh Commission.
Appearing before the committee, Colley says the Office of the Registrar General acts on the White Paper once gazetted, and considers it binding and enforceable for cancelling leases or transferring ownership back to the state.
“It’s a matter of opinion whether once the White Paper is gazetted, it becomes binding and enforceable or, in a sense, cancels the property,” Colley said. He explained that in practice, if the Solicitor General acts on the White Paper to prepare new deeds, “the effects are one and the same.”
Colley confirmed that new leases were issued to third parties following the cancellation of titles, explaining that the Director of Lands, through the Minister of Lands and signed by the Permanent Secretary, is responsible for issuing such leases. He told the Committee that his office received correspondence regarding these leases and provided copies to the Committee just before his testimony.
Members of the Committee and counsel questioned Colley on whether the cancellation of property titles should require further legal backing beyond the White Paper. Colley insists that once a lease is cancelled, its history ends and is no longer referenced in the manual registry. “Once you cancel the lease, that’s the end of it,” he said.
He noted that while records would show that a cancellation occurred, any new lease is treated as an entirely new entry. He further testified that a list of over 100 properties affected by the Commission’s recommendations was attached to an internal memo he received, which served as the basis for the cancellations.
Colley told the Committee that the cancellations have no legal effect unless endorsed by the authority that originally issued the lease, which he identified as the Minister of Lands. He also expressed his view that the government has the right to reallocate or sell forfeited land, depending on whether it is undeveloped or has significant investments.
The inquiry continues next week as the Committee examines how the White Paper recommendations were implemented and whether due process was followed.
