Gunjur VDC unlawfully constituted - Lamin Mbakau Jammeh

According to Lamin Mbakau Jammeh, the current Village Development Committee (VDC) of Gunjur is unlawfully constituted as it was not done as per section 93 of the Local Government Act.

Photo: Lamin Mbakau Jammeh says Gunjur VDC is unlawfully constituted

Below we reproduce verbatim, the article written by Mr Jammeh and send to this medium.....

UNCONSTITUTIONALLY SELECTED VDC MEMBERS

Under normal circumstances, VDC, as a statute body is selected according to the Local Government Act, under section 93, as follows a) A Chairperson selected from among the members of the Committee; b) One male and one female representing each Kabila in the village, selected by the kabilo; c) One male and one female representing each community-based organisation; d) A representative of youth groups in the village; and e) Such other persons as the Village Development Committee shall determine. These definitions are simple interpretation everyone can understand; it has no other meaning that can help bring confusion or problem in any community. The selection of the VDC in Gunjur has not been made according to due process of the law, due to the involvement of the councillor, the chief and some of the elders of Gunjur. The chaos started when the chief of Kombo South District Lamin Darbo called on people from different Kabilos, Dembo Tutiba Darbo representing the Alkalo Bagiki Darbo and Lamin Mbakau Jammeh representing the Community Based Organizations(CBO). At that meeting, the then councillor Karamo Bojang of Gunjur ward chaired the meeting; he opened the meeting with prayers. The chief Lamin Darbo the first speaker of the meeting said that the Kabilos representatives are the traditional groups, their representation should be more than a Community Based Organizations (CBOs), he further went on to say that if the CBOs are more than the Kabilo representative, they will overcome them and that will always bring problem within the community. Two third of the attendees of that meeting all agreed what the chief has said; it was only three people namely Lamin Mbakau Jammeh, Dembo Tutiba Darbo and Ba Finding Darbo disagreed to that proposal, the representation of people to VDC, is not a traditional act, or majority carries the vote, it is an act and should be administered by an act. The meeting was ended without agreement. The Gunjur VDC impasse has been an issue for more than a year, the chief and his supporters were denying the fact that the Kabilos should have more representative than the CBOs. The matter was reported to the Area Council at Brikama, and the then chairman; Malang Saibo Sanneh came to Gunjur to discuss the issue with youth and village elders for settlement, he advised them to follow the rules and regulations of the Local Government Act and follow the correct proceedings of selecting VDC. Up to the end of his tenure in office, the matter was never resolved, the matter was taken over by an interim committee at the Area Council. The interim committee invited the Alkalo, and the parties involve to the council chambers to discuss the issue for settlement. At the end of the meeting, it was unanimously agreed that the interim committee would serve both parties with a resolution that the unconstitutionally selected VDC members should surrender the stamp, bank book and any other assets belonging to the community of Gunjur. The so-called VDC denied that fact and they are still in possession of assets of the community of Gunjur, running all the transactions and falsely calling themselves VDC. ISSUE 1: The composition of VDC should be one male and one female representing each Kabilo and Community Based Organization. The Act is very clear and straightforward; the act said that each Kabilo and CBO should send in one male and one female as their representative in the VDC, the act did not limit the number of Kabilos or CBOs to be represented in VDC. ISSUE 2: If all the representatives from Kabilos and CBOs are sent to form VDC, the council will send someone from the Area Council to train members about their functions for two days, and on the third day, members will select their executive body through the ballot. This procedure was never carried out during the setting up of the current VDC of the community of Gunjur. ISSUE 3: If the chairperson of the VDC resigned or fired for any reasons, he/she shall be replaced by either the vice chair or through election from within the general body of the VDC. Mr Demba Jobe Touray was the chairperson of the unconstitutional VDC, he resigned from his post and was replaced by Tijani Bojang without due process of the VDC act. ISSUE 4: The unconstitutional VDC still has illegally in their possession all the assets of the VDC, running the transactions of the VDC and falsely calling themselves VDC. ISSUE 5: So many letters were sent to the Brikama Area Council to come and settle this VDC issue in Gunjur, they came for a fact-finding mission, and after few weeks, they wrote to some CBOs and invited them to Brikama area council for clarification about a letter written to them by one Lamin Mbakau Jammeh who wrote on behalf of the CBOs. At the meeting, they were asked whether the letter written by Lamin Mbakau Jammeh was written on their behalf, some of them agreed, and some did not agree. At the end of that meeting, they promised the CBOs that they would come to Gunjur and settle this matter by the Local Government Act, and still, now it never happened.