After government officials abruptly demolished their homes and complexes, Salagi residents expressed their intense anger and sadness.
Numerous impacted locals assert that the exercise was conducted without sufficient consultation or due process, leaving them in ruins and forced to relocate. They claimed to have complied with all applicable laws before beginning construction, including securing permissions from the Ministry of Justice, the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), and the Department of Physical Planning.
According to witnesses, armed soldiers joined the demolition crew when they unexpectedly came and started demolishing buildings.
They had followed all the rules, according to Bakary Manjang, whose brother’s home was one of those destroyed. “We got all the paperwork we needed and got Physical Planning’s clearance. He remarked, “They’re telling us a different story now.”
They had been in advanced stages of building for more than five years, he explained. In order to continue his work, his brother had even bought supplies.
Then all of a sudden, during Ramadan, I was working when my brother called to inform me that the house had been destroyed. It broke my heart. It was similar to witnessing your hard-earned cash burn. He bemoaned, “Now the same people who allowed us to build are saying we weren’t supposed to build there.”
The authorities’ lack of communication was criticised by Manjang, who said, “What should have been done first—engaging with us—was done last.” Talk to someone at least before you touch their stuff. Everybody is a human. We’d have paid attention.
A similar event was described by Oumie Suwaneh, another impacted resident. When she went to the market on March 25, she claimed that her younger sister told her that two civilians and four armed soldiers had been to their compound with a demolition notice.
Then, on Friday, I returned to the market and got a call informing me that our fence was going to be demolished. They damaged it despite my sister’s warning that we weren’t home. They even broke our water meter and tap, so now we have trouble getting water’, she stated.
According to Suwaneh, no one, including the government, had ever challenged their title of the land since her husband bought it more than five years ago. She continued, “It is really painful to wake up one day and see everything gone after spending thousands of Dalasi.”
The way the demolitions were handled deeply disappointed another victim, Amadou Darboe. He clarified that his nephews received the notice instead of him, and at first it was unsigned and without a name.
He claimed that the official signed the notice in front of his house after later entering his name.
Although the demolition vans stated that work would start on April 1, Darboe pointed out that the notification was given on March 25, 2024, and the demolition took place only three days later, on March 28.
“There is a legitimate way to exercise authority, even if you have it. He emphasised that without inheritance or legal rights, no one would construct a house.
He urged more openness and justice in these proceedings, stressing that every person should be treated equally by the law.
According to Darboe, “the government should not use power to destroy people’s homes without consultation or dialogue, but rather should create a fair system that protects everyone.”
He called on authorities to take prompt, fair action, pointing out that numerous families had lost millions of Dalasi in investments and property.
“I am aware of the amount I personally contributed. “It was heartbreaking to see it destroyed like that,” he concluded.
