Gambian MP calls for end to state land allocations for senior officials

Banjul - Hon. Bakary K. Badjie, National Assembly Member for Foni Bintang, has called on the Gambian government to halt the practice of allocating state reserve lands to senior public officials, insisting that such properties should instead benefit low-income citizens.

Speaking on Kerr Fatou's Politic Kachaa show, Badjie argued that teachers, nurses, security personnel and other ordinary Gambians struggling to acquire land deserve priority over ministers, lawmakers, judges and other highly paid officials.

Badjie revealed that he declined a plot of state land offered to National Assembly members, describing Gambians as "very kind" for electing officials, paying their salaries, providing them with vehicles and still allocating them valuable land. He criticised the longstanding tradition of granting plots to presidents, vice presidents, ministers, chief justices and legislators, saying it entrenches inequality.

"Gambians are their own problem," Badjie remarked. "Teachers, nurses, security officers, and ordinary Gambians who receive low salaries are not given state reserve lands, but elected officials who receive huge salaries that they can use to buy land on their own are still allocated state lands."

Instead of land allocations, Badjie proposed that the government construct residential housing for lawmakers to use during their tenure, particularly those representing constituencies outside the Greater Banjul Area. Such housing, he said, would ease travel burdens while ensuring the properties remain public assets.

Badjie's comments have reignited debate over how state resources are distributed, raising questions about fairness, accountability and the role of public service in a country where many citizens continue to struggle with access to land.