By Dawda Jallow
Nestled between the bustling villages of Janneh Kunda and Kemoto, the tiny community of Village Nineteen is teetering on the edge of rebellion. Residents here are threatening to withhold taxes from the Mansa Konko Local Government until their decades-long pleas for electricity and proper water management are finally heard.
Despite paying taxes religiously, villagers wake each morning to the cruel irony of power lines slicing through their corridor, illuminating everywhere but their homes. “We see the cables dancing above us, yet our lanterns still burn kerosene,” lamented Alkalo Ebrima Fatty, captured on video as children studied under dim flashlight beams.
Blessed with abundant groundwater, Village Nineteen remains trapped in water scarcity due to broken boreholes and a lack of investment in infrastructure. “Developments pass through us, never for us,” said Awa Touray, a mother of six, pointing to the highway that links Kemoto and Janneh Kunda while her village stays dark.
The final blow came when the national Rural Electrification Project bypassed them entirely. Community leaders confirm a tax boycott resolution is now circulating. “No light, no water, no taxes,” read handwritten posters photographed at the village square.
With Village Janneh Kunda and Kemoto as their only close neighbour enjoying full electricity, Village Nineteen’s 18 residents say enough is enough. As one elder declared on camera: “We are Gambians too. If the Mansa doesn’t hear us, we’ll make Banjul listen.”
Government officials were unavailable for comment. For now, Village Nineteen’s future hangs by the same wires that refuse to power it.
