September 21, 2017 By Joseph S. Margai
APC standard bearer aspirant Osman Boie Kamara
Dr. Jengo Stevens Adviser to the Vice President
The battle over the legal ownership of some 150 acres of land at Malambay village has intensified as two political heavyweights lock horns. Aspiring standard bearer of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC), Osman Boie Kamara, and Adviser to the country’s Vice President, Dr. Jengo Stevens, both lay claims to the land situate in Malambay village, in Constituency 95, Western Area Rural District.
The hitherto sleepy village has in recent times been the theatre of conflict as the ruling party duo lock horns in what locals have dubbed a battle for supremacy over a vast acreage of land.
One party represents the family of late President Siaka Stevens while another, Osman Boie Kamara, is a former Trade Minister in the current administration who defected from the opposition after he lost the standard bearer contest in 2011.
The tussle over the land at Malambay village ensued when erstwhile Minister of Finance, Hassan Gbessay Kanu, handed over a document to children of late President Siaka Stevens, which he said was given to him by the latter for safe keeping.
The document claimed that Siaka Steven had purchased over 70 acres of land at the village.
Residents of the village have alleged that their crops have been destroyed by children of the late President Stevens and that they are in constant fear over alleged gang activity by certain youth in the village.
An altercation ensued last Thursday when the former Minister of Trade and Industry, Osman Boie Kamara, took a surveyor to survey the 150 acres of land he claim to have bought in 1980, over thirty years ago.
Usu Boie told Concord Times in an interview that the dispute started almost a year ago, culminating into litigation, adding that a court ruling had declared him legal owner of the 150 acres.
“Despite the court verdict, thugs who claimed to have been hired by Jengo Stevens have been continuously threatening and beating up inhabitants of Malambay village,” he complained.
He alleged that some tree crops he had cultivated on the said land have been destroyed by the Stevens’ who he accused of selling the land to a third party.
“Last Thursday as my surveyor was doing his work on my piece of land, thugs hired by the Stevens attacked and wounded him. They even beat up residents of the village. The surveyor is responding to medical treatment at the Rokupa Government Hospital,” he said.
He further alleged that officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) had gone to assess the level of damage done to the crops but were prevented from doing so and beaten by the thugs.
Also, headman of Malambay, Alie Kamara, claimed that inhabitants of the tvillage have being subjected to constant intimidation by the sons of late President Siaka Stevens, singling out Dr. Jengo Stevens as the main brain behind the intimidation.
“There is no justice in Sierra Leone and the journalists should be urging the appropriate authorities to give justice to the poor. We have been bullied in this village but anytime we take complaint to the police our concerns remain unaddressed,” he lamented.
However, Dr. Jengo Stevens denied sending thugs to terrorise residents of the village, but claimed that his late father had bought the said piece of land in 1982.
“Headman of Malambay took me and Hon. Hassan Gbessay Kanu to the Waterloo Magistrate Court one year ago and in the court, the headman and I presented documents of the said land. The court passed a verdict that my document was legal and that the land belongs to me,” he explained.
Dr. Jengo Stevens vowed that he would not allow Usu Boie to lay claim to the land. Despite the latter’s claim that a court had ruled in his favour, adding that he would seek redress in court if the dispute persists.
Meanwhile, Officer Commanding Environmental Crime Unit at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Assistant Superintendent of Police James Kargbo has confirmed that four suspects have been arrested in relation to the recent fracas over the land last Thursday.