Three Gambians activists have petitioned the Barrow administration over ‘illegal’ allocation of lands to people who don’t deserve them.

The group of activists include outspoken human rights activist Madi Jobarteh, Baboucarr Nyang and Omar Camara.

In the petition letter, the petitioners said: “we wish to submit this petition for your kind consideration. We believe that we are eligible to make this petition and we have made efforts to address the issues raised in this petition but have not received any response from any relevant institutions.”

According to the letter, “the petition is to enquire into the allocation of state lands to public officials, individuals, and non-state institutions, organisations, and businesses, to ensure that they are in line with the 1997 constitution, and all relevant laws and freedom from influence, bribery, exploitation of official privileges or any interference means.”

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday at TANGO, Madi Jobarteh said: “as a concerned citizen, we feel that we have a right to hold our government to account. So, that’s why we have raised this petition to the national assembly which has the overall responsibility to look at this petition and ensure state lands are well managed. And those that are given to citizens legitimately and legally deserve it and they have it in the right manner in the appropriate way.

“We have seen state lands being given to people who don’t deserve it and those who deserve it do not get it. And that’s a recipe for conflict in any society. And land is a major source of conflict in many societies. And we feel we need to do this as citizens for the peace and stability of the Gambia and for the good governance of the Gambia. Bearing in mind, while the state is giving lands to individuals, we have seen state institutions renting, ministries renting, public departments renting on private properties,” he added.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba