By: Fatou Krubally
Essa Mbye, leader of APP-Sobeyaa Party, has dismissed claims that he illegally acquired land near the Tanji Bird Reserve, insisting he does not hold title to any plot and blaming what he calls a clash between state institutions for halting his planned hotel project.
In a statement signed by Ousainou Bobb, National Spokesperson of the APP-Sobeyaa Party, Faal argued that he followed all procedures after being encouraged by the Gambia Tourism Board (GTB) in 2018 to invest in the country’s tourism sector.
“Mr Faal possesses no land to return,” Bobb said in the statement, stressing that “nowhere in the Malegan article did it claim Mr Faal acted unlawfully.”
According to the statement, Faal had first applied for land under the Gambia Tourism Authority in 2010 but was not allocated any. He was approached again under the Barrow administration, which he said promoted a “New Gambia” where Gambians were encouraged to invest at home rather than abroad.
Faal applied for a site in the Tourism Development Area in 2019, paying an application fee of D55,000 and later a non-refundable development levy of USD 125,000 on the advice of President Barrow, whom he met twice over the project’s progress.
He said the GTB provisionally approved the New Gambia Resort project and offered him two possible sites. He selected land at Sanneh Mentereng after being told the alternative was tied up in disputes.
However, the Ministry of Lands later blocked Faal’s building permit when the Department of Parks and Wildlife claimed the site fell inside a protected bird sanctuary. The statement accused Parks and Wildlife of unlawfully attempting to expand the sanctuary’s boundaries decades after plans first failed.
“The truth is that Mr Faal never gained access to the land or received vacant possession,” Bobb said. He added that no alternative site has been offered, and the funds paid have not been refunded.
Faal described himself as a victim caught between conflicting state agencies and argued that his project was intended to set an example for Gambian-led development in a sector dominated by foreign investors.
The APP-Sobeyaa Party pledged it would “not be deterred by defamatory tactics” and would keep advocating for transparency and due process.
