The Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice (EFSCRJ) has called for immediate compensation for residents whose homes were demolished in the Salagi Layout area, condemning the actions of the Department of Physical Planning and Housing under the Ministry of Lands, Regional Governments and Religious Affairs as “illegal, unjust, and discriminatory.” The demolitions carried out on March 28 and April 3, 2025, have sparked outrage among victims, residents, and community leaders in Sukuta, prompting the rights group to demand justice and systemic reform in land management across the country.
In a strongly worded public statement issued today, EFSCRJ criticized the government for what it describes as decades of corrupt and selective land allocation practices that favor officials, businesses, and influential elites over ordinary citizens. The group pointed to the recent Salagi demolitions as the latest example of this inequity, arguing that affected residents had legally purchased their plots and built homes—some occupied for years—only to see them razed without adequate notice or recourse.
“Individuals who build homes in such places as Salagi do not necessarily encroach,” the EFSCRJ statement read. “They usually buy the land and got papers to build. It is not enough for the Government to say they issued a press release to that effect.” The group challenged the Ministry’s claim of prior warnings, noting that a review of its public communications, including its Facebook page, revealed no specific notice about Salagi beyond a general advisory on March 25, 2025, urging caution with estate agents.
The statement also highlighted a pattern of inconsistent enforcement. While Salagi homes were swiftly demolished, allegedly to reclaim land allocated to public institutions like the Police, Gamtel, and Nawec—land that has sat undeveloped for years—other encroachments on protected areas, such as the Monkey Park and Tanbi Wetlands, have been overlooked when tied to government-approved projects or private businesses. The EFSCRJ cited the allocation of Salagi Forest land to GACH for basalt storage and the GTBoard’s 2024 deal to hand over part of the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Golf Course to a private hotel as examples of this double standard.
The group accused the government of being “the root cause of the precarious land situation in the country,” pointing to a history of de-gazetting forest parks, ignoring legal protections like the State Lands Act, and failing to act on its task force findings. A notable instance was Minister Hamat Bah’s January 2025 press conference on the Kamalo inquiry, where he claimed the file was “lost,” leaving the public in the dark about subsequent actions—or lack thereof.
EFSCRJ also revealed that in October 2024, it had requested a list of all land allocations from 2017 to 2024 under the Access to Information Act, a request the Ministry has yet to acknowledge. Among the alleged abuses cited was Minister Bah’s illegal allocation of land earmarked for the Chief Justice’s residence to President Adama Barrow.
Joining local voices like National Assembly Member Fatou Cham of Sanimentereng, EFSCRJ pledged legal support to the victims and issued a 10-point list of recommendations. These include halting all demolition exercises, compensating affected Salagi residents, abandoning planned demolitions in Old Yundum, Coastal Road, Tanji, and Sotokoi, and releasing long-overdue reports on land allocation investigations. The group also called for a nationwide land mapping effort and new legislation to regulate estate development.
The Ministry defended its actions in an April 7 press release and an April 8 press conference, claiming the demolitions targeted illegal encroachments on state land. However, EFSCRJ dismissed these as “attempts to justify an illegal act,” questioning why public institutions failed to develop allocated lands, leaving them vulnerable to settlement in the first place.
