Eight Villages Condemn, Deny Rongo’s Claims Ofhis Grandfather Being The Communities Indigenous Owner
Eight villages in the Kombos collectively converged on Sunday with strongdenial and condemned claims made by Momodou Lamin Jarju alias (Rongo) that his grandfather is the indigenous owner of these villages.
The villages includes Lamin Village, New Yundum, Busumballa, Mandinary, Daranka, Kubariko, Kerewan and Makumbaya village.
In a press conference organized by members of all above mentioned communities held at the Lamin village town’s Bantaba,the occasion witnessed deeply discussions into history of the villages to prove the claimant wrong and calls government immediate actions for peace to rain.
The elders appealed government’s intervention to prevent Faraba case to repeat itself in their neighboring communities just because of one individual.
Speaking at the event, the Alkalo of Mandinay village, FaCeesay revealed that this unrest false claims is a serious concern to the people of Kombo, noting that it is their obligation to inform government and the whole nation of their concern.
He noted that every settlement has its own origin where itwas derived from, adding that Kombo has its own origin. He noted the claimant should have first thought of how the name Kombo came about, before causing troubles on the elders and people of Kombo.
He informed that the name Kombo came into existence before the coming of Rongo’s grandfather into the Gambia fromCassamance, Senegal.
In his remarks, the chairman of Lamin village development committee and a member of LaminBulunda council of elders, Jammeh EK. Bojangstated that Rongo’s claims is baseless.
He said in their efforts to foil this disturbing issue, they went to the Chief, to the governor and the Ministry of Lands and Local government, but they have realized that the gravity of the situation tends to escalate. “It is an issue concerned to all communities in Kombo,” he noted.
Fansu Jatta, Alkalo of Busumbala revealed that the people of Kombo tend to suffer from their own kindness through other people as done by the claimant. He stated that though in democracy, Rongo has the right to go to court to lay complains, but it should be based on facts.
“We want to inform the people that the people of Kombo are ready to stand on their feet to defend and protect what belongs to them,” he said, adding that the government should intervene to avert the troubles that Rongo has put on the elders and the entire people of Kombo.
Alhagie Sulayman Bojang, the Imam Ratib of Lamin Village urged the elders and Alkalos of Kombo to ensure that the history of Kombo to be written for the young ones to learn and get to know the past and present of Kombo.
He stated that there are elders who have lived in Kombo for the past 90 years, noting that for someone from somewhere to come and claim ownership of a place that does not belong to him or his parents, it is unacceptable.
He appealed to the government through the justice department to ensure cases like this case when brought to court to be urgently dealt with for peaceful existence and to save lives.
The Alkalo of Lamin village, Ebrima Bojang welcomed his colleagues while he looked forward to a fruitful outcome with effective intervention by the central government to the solution of the issue at hand.
