The Gambia’s Minister of Lands, Hamat Bah, has announced that the government will take tough action against land grabbers, vowing to impose heavy tax penalties on anyone found illegally seizing land.

Bah made the announcement during the validation of a new land policy aimed at addressing the rising number of land disputes in the country, particularly in the Greater Banjul Area.

“We have observed that people grab land and then fence it off because they want to claim ownership. They prevent others from accessing it simply because they are powerful. That will now end. If you fence off a parcel of land, you will pay a heavy tax to the state. Land grabbing will no longer be tolerated,” he said during the validation workshop.

He said land disputes have been a key driver of conflict in many countries and insisted that the Gambian government is determined to prevent a similar outcome.

He also warned against building on plots without legal documentation, calling it “one of the biggest abuses a person can commit against their country.”

Mr Bah called for strict enforcement of land laws and urged the judiciary to take decisive action on cases involving land ownership.

“The laws must be fully implemented. People who break them should be held accountable,” he added.

By Adama Makasuba