By Cecilia E.L. Mendy
Buba Sanyang, former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Lands and currently Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries, on Tuesday denied allegations of abuse of office in connection with the allocation of forfeited lands formerly owned by ex-president Yahya Jammeh.
Testifying before Justice Ebrima Jaiteh at the High Court in Banjul, Sanyang said the lands in question were returned by the Commission of Inquiry to the Government and subsequently placed under the authority of the minister responsible for lands.
The witness was under cross-examination in the ongoing case relating to the allocation of forfeited properties linked to the former president.
Sanyang told the court that the minister took into account the interests of third parties when allocating the lands. He identified the communities concerned and the original traditional landowners as the third parties.
Responding to questions on the role of Village Development Committees (VDCs), Sanyang maintained that a VDC is not a landowner and can only sell land if authorised by a community, family or individual landowner.
He further stated that he was not aware of any legal authority empowering a VDC to independently sell land on behalf of a community.
The witness acknowledged that Kasa Kunda was not the only community that benefited from lands formerly owned by Jammeh, identifying Sifoe and Brufut among other beneficiary communities.
Sanyang also confirmed that the lands returned to Kasa Kunda had previously belonged to the former president and that the Commission of Inquiry had returned the forfeited lands to the State, making the State their custodian.
According to the witness, the State subsequently returned the lands to the Kasa Kunda community, with 40 per cent allocated to the original landowners.
During the proceedings, the witness was shown a letter from the Department of Lands and Surveys addressed to the Alkalo of Kasa Kunda. The defence successfully tendered the document, which was admitted into evidence.
Sanyang testified that the letter, signed by the then Director of Lands, Kebba Ceesay, communicated the return of 40 per cent of the forfeited land to the Alkalo on behalf of the landowners.
He told the court that the contents of the letter were accurate and constituted a genuine communication from the ministry to the community.
The witness rejected suggestions that the minister had abused his office in relation to the letter and agreed that no false information had been conveyed regarding the allocation of the lands.
Sanyang further stated that once the letter was delivered, it became the responsibility of the Alkalo to inform the affected families and landowners.
At the conclusion of his testimony, the witness was discharged. The case was adjourned to 14 July 2026 for the testimony-in-chief of the prosecution’s second witness.