By Lamin Idriss Conteh (Cazorla)
Two men, one of them a Member of Parliament, are locked in what is turning out to be a protracted dispute over a piece of land situated at Baw Baw in the Western Rural district.
Francis Kaikai, a U.S army veteran and Benjamin Turay, Member of Parliament for Constituency 128 in the Wilberforce area, are both claiming ownership of the piece of land, which is actually located within an undisputed plot of land belonging to Mr KaiKai.
The land was originally purchased by Kaikai on the 27th of December, 2017 from Alex Issa Bangura and Gibrilla Kargbo who is deceased, according to a document seen by Politico.
Speaking to Politico from Baltimore, Maryland, where he is based, KaiKai claimed that Bangura and Hon. Turay conspired to take his land away from him. He said the parliamentarian couldn’t produce any authentic document to show that the land belongs to him.
“Any time I visit the place, Turay will use some security personnel at Baw Baw Village to forcefully eject me from the land,” he alleged.
Kaikai said the matter was reported to the Congo Cross Police Station and later transferred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for further investigations.
Reacting to the allegations when contacted by Politico, Bangura admitted to have sold the one acre of land to Kaikai and also confirmed that a portion of it - ‘4 Town Lot’ - was indeed taken away from the frontage of the property with the intention of replacing it with a portion in an adjacent plot of land.
Bangura, who is the Headman of Baw Baw, also disclosed to Politico that the portion of land in question was sold for Le60million.
“When the encroachment occurred, I spoke with KaiKai and he asked me to enquire the amount the land was sold for so that he could refund the money,” said Bangura, adding: “But Kaikai didn’t send the money as he had promised, so the MP thought he would have forgotten about the land.’’
The legal representative of KaiKai, Emmanuel Wana Conteh, said that the land was purchased in late 2016 and that no one ever claimed title to it back then. He stated that the land is duly registered and that his client has all necessary documents to show for it.
Hon. Turay, reacting to the claims, pointed out that he bought the land from the Tucker and Bangura families and that he has all the necessary evidence to show for the piece of land. Documents he showed Politico indicated that he bought the piece of land from Alex Issa Bangura. Turay added that the families that sold the land to him were still alive and were always ready to confirm his status to the property if called upon.
The acquisition of land in the Western Area has for a long time been fraught with problems.
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