Real estate developer Mustapha Njie has said he’s at peace with himself and that his conscience is clear as far as the Brufut land allocation is concerned.
He added that every aggrieved party reserves the right to seek redress through the courts.
Some Brufut natives have been reportedly preparing the grounds for a legal challenge over Mr. Njie’s acquisition of vast area of land in the settlement 20 years ago.
But in a telephone conversation with JollofNews on Wednesday, Taf as he’s fondly called, said he has no problem with people going to court.
He, however, stressed that the relations between him and Brufut is smooth.
“The Brufut land was allocated to me 20 years ago. In any country, there’s a law of the land. If he (Abdou Karim Sanneh) feels that’s not right, let him go to the court,” Mr. Njie told this medium.
“I currently have an excellent relationship with the people of Brufut and the VDC,” he added.
Mr. Njie stressed that the land in question was legally acquired.
“I have a title to it (land). One should go to the government to ask because government is continuity. I’m at peace with myself and my conscience is clear. I have been allocated 1000s of acres in other countries. So, why not my own country,” he stated.
Like I wrote in a WhatsApp forum earlier today – in my reaction to this latest silliness- “Taf-Taf is away with the fairies.”
He either thinks he is the only clever person in the Gambia and the rest are idiots – or he thinks the owners of these lands are all on crack cocaine. Someone better tell him neither is the case.
He donated 100 bags of cement to The Brufut Sports Committee – towards the fencing of the Strasser Field Sport Centre. It is significant to reveal that at first his overture to donate was rejected by the committee outright. But true to form, he managed to ingratiate himself to two or three impressionable members of the committee.
It was through these folks that he made the donation whilst the rest of the Sports committee were kept in the dark. It was not until months later at a periodic audit exercise that this donation became common knowledge. There was outrage.
These lands belong to the Manneh and Sanneh clans. None of the people he “made his peace with” as a way of clearing his conscience have any say in this matter. One is a member of the Sanneh clan ‘by proxy’ but none are indigenous to Brufut. Thus, their opinions or feelings on this issue is of little if any consequence.
I learnt he has had three meetings with the Brufut VDC – mostly to do with the sports centre. But again, he is mistaken if he has been given the impression that the VDC has any authority to speak for let alone make decisions for the affected clans.
If recalls, in 2019 I made it public that we are in no hurry to go to the courts. The chief aim is to force this issue back into the public consciousness. By any reasonable yardstick we have succeeded in that endeavour.
He would be reacting to our moves. That is by design. There is a lot more in store. Let him stay tuned.
DF Manneh
Brufut Native –UK Resident