By Newman Anthony Levey In Bo
Clashes over land between two villages in Pujehun District, southern Sierra Leone, has left at least five people hospitalized as a result of alleged gunshot wounds.
The two villages Bomi and Gbanahun in Peri Chiefdom, Pujehun District, according to district authorities, have been having disagreement over who owns the particular piece of land under dispute. The issue has gone to both the chiefdom and district authorities who set up a committee to look into the said issue.
However, the outcome of the committee’s investigation which was read to the two communities on the 13th of July, 2020, proved that the said land belongs to a particular family in Bomi Village and therefore, the other village was asked to evacuate the land.
This, according report, led to a violent attack from the losing side, a fight that lasted from Saturday 22nd to Sunday 23rd August 2020, leaving five people hospitalized at the Pujehun Government Hospital.
Chairman of the Civil Society Coalition in Pujehun District, Ibrahim Swaray, told Politico that the committee that was set up by the District Officer (DO) to investigate the rightful owner of the land comprised representatives of the Legal Aid Board, the Regent Chief in Pujehun and people from the DO's office.
He added that the stakeholders involved in such processes should be neutral and careful of the judgment they make, noting that the people of Gbanahun Village raised concern that their economic trees which they had planted were allegedly destroyed by the people of Bomi and that was what resulted to the violence.
He went on to note that the district does not have a resident surveyor to look into land disputes when they arise, hence it will be difficult to determine who owns a particular parcel of land.
Paramount Chief of Peri Chiefdom, Issa Kamara, told Politico that he was “very” concerned about the land conflict in the two villages in his chiefdom.
”It is a long story which is over 10 years. This problem has been on. We have been trying to solve it in one way or the other, but each time we do, the problem comes out again," PC Issa Kamara said.
He explained that the issue has been between one Keifa Jakema of Bomi Village, Kemokai Section, and Momoh Jakema of Gbanahun Village, both of Peri Chiefdom, for which an investigation was launched by the District Officer for Pujehun, Charles M. Kailie on the 24th of March 2019.
He noted that the people of Bomi Village have always reported any development on the issue to him, something he said the Gbanahun people have failed to do.
“I will blame my subjects, the Town Chief and Speaker of Gbanahun Village because they have failed to report the matter to me. But the opposing side (Bomi Village) have always made reports to me and at the police station," PC Kamara said.
The chief noted that a strict warning was given by the district officer for both parties to adhere to after the verdict, that there should be no provocation from the winners, and that the losers should respect the outcome of the report, adding that if any one disagreed with the verdict, he must go to court to seek redress.
The Police Local Unit Commander (LUC) of Pujehun Division, Superintendent Paul Bannister, told politico that eight people were already in police custody while they continued with the investigation.
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