As The Gambia’s Draft National Land Policy (2026–2035) undergoes public consultation, land rights activists and Kombo’s land-owning communities, led by the Securing Futures collaborative, are calling for sweeping reforms to address decades of systemic dispossession. The group’s detailed critique, released today, highlights the policy’s failure to confront the State Lands Act 1991, a law they argue has facilitated one of the largest wealth transfers in Gambian history from Indigenous communities to elites.
“Our land is our story, our identity, the very essence of who we are as Kombonkas,” said Mba Mariama Bojang, a Kombo elder whose ancestral land was reclassified as state property. The State Lands Act, enacted under pressure from the 1980s Structural Adjustment Programs, redefined communal lands as state-owned, turning customary owners into tenants and enabling widespread seizures. In Brufut alone, 1.01 km² of land—valued conservatively at USD35.03 million—was expropriated for developments like Brufut Heights and AU Villas, with communities receiving as little as 0.05% of the market value in compensation.
Securing Futures’ report documents systemic abuses, including corrupt land allocations to state officials and violent crackdowns on resisting communities in areas like Sukuta and Brusubi. The group accuses the government of prioritizing elite interests and international development agendas, noting that the policy draft was initiated under World Bank funding conditions rather than a genuine commitment to equity.
While promising equitable access and sustainable management, the draft policy omits any mention of repealing or amending the State Lands Act. “This silence legitimizes ongoing exploitation,” said Ben Suwareh, a governance activist. The report also critiques the policy’s Western-centric approach, which undermines traditional gender-sensitive land systems and fuels a “manufactured crisis” of tenure insecurity.
Securing Futures proposes bold reforms: repealing the State Lands Act, imposing a moratorium on land allocations, investigating past corruption, and centering Indigenous governance systems. They call for retroactive justice, including fair compensation and land recovery, and community benefit-sharing of at least 25% of profits from developments on communal lands. The economic toll of dispossession in Kombo is staggering, with losses estimated in the billions of USD, representing stolen intergenerational wealth and cultural heritage.
With regional validation underway and national validation set for May 2025, Securing Futures urges Gambians to join the consultation process to demand a policy that honors justice and community sovereignty. “This is our last chance to reclaim our heritage and future,” said Dave Manneh, Research Lead. As attention shifts to Niumi and Foni, the group calls for solidarity to prevent further dispossession.
The question looms: will The Gambia’s land policy perpetuate neocolonial patterns or become a transformative tool for emancipation? The answer lies in the hands of its people.
