SEREKUNDA ELDERS TO SUE GOV’T, SUPERSONICz OVER SALE OF PART OF GADDAFI MOSQUE
The community of Serekunda has threatened to sue the Sheriff Division of the Gambia High Court and Supersonicz Financial Limited over the alleged illegal sale of part of Gaddafi Mosque.
The land in question was reportedly sold in 2019 or thereabout by the Sheriff Division following a High Court ruling on a D1.6 million civil suit filed by Supersonicz Financial Limited against its former staff, Demba Marena.
According to elders of Serekunda led by Alieu Momar Njai, the land in question belongs to the community and not Mr Marena as ‘erroneously’ perceived by the Sheriff Division and Supersonicz.
Buba Senghore, secretary of the Gaddafi Mosque Committee told The Standard on Sunday following a community meeting on the matter that the elders have consulted a lawyer to challenge the matter in court.
Petition to CJ
He said the community has also written a petition letter to the Chief Justice urging him to intervene.
In the petition, seen by The standard the community told the chief justice the following: “Please accept this correspondence as a formal grievance from the entire community of Serekunda regarding the recent disposal of communally-held land by the Sheriff Division of the Gambia High Court, which has caused considerable harm to our community. The property in question located within the Muammar Gaddafi Mosque, known as the Libyan Grand Mosque, has served as multifarious public interest’.
“The site formerly hosted agricultural exhibitions, offered expansive spaces for celebratory gatherings during festive seasons such as Tobaski and Koriteh, temporary shelter for displaced persons, and later facilitated the establishment of a mosque and an educational institution, under the sponsorship of the Libyan government via the World Islamic Call Society,” the community added.
According to the community, the Sheriff Division based its decision on an “erroneous information” from either Supersonicz Financial Limited or Mr Demba Marena, that he (Demba Marena) held proprietorship rights or valid authorisations’ of the property.
“We vehemently dispute this notion.”
The community added that Mr Marena possesses neither ownership nor power of attorney for the aforementioned property.
“Rather, his residence there, along with that of his late brother Oustas Ansumana Marena, was facilitated solely due to magnanimity, without conferring any proprietary entitlements. Thus, we vigorously contest any usage of the said property. We humbly request that the Chief Justice facilitate the revaluation of the legality of the aforementioned sale order, and allow us to challenge the sale proceedings through appropriate legal means,” the Serekunda elders told the chief justice.
Reacting to the petition, Chief Justice Hassan Jallow told the Serekunda community that the Sheriff of the Gambia acts only on orders of the court.
“If you are dissatisfied with his actions, you should seek redress through the normal judicial process for the court to direct the Sheriff accordingly,” CJ advised the elders.
Supersonicz explains
Njundu, a senior official at Supersonicz Financial who is familiar with the matter, said Demba Marena was a staff of Supersonicz, ‘who in 2009 or thereabout was involved in a D1.6 million fraud case and the management of Supersonicz decided to file a lawsuit against him at the High Court’.
“The High Court passed a judgement in our favour and ruled that he should pay back the money to us. So, after the judgement, I cannot tell exactly how the Sheriff Division was able to come to the conclusion that he (Marena) owned the land in question. I think he was leaving there with his elder brother who I heard was either the Imam or Principal of the school,” Bojang added.
He said Supersonicz has no clue on how the land was sold.
“All the transaction was coordinated by the Sheriff Division and the court. We were not actually involved. So, when the place was sold, they pay us back the money. That’s all I can comment about this issue,” the Supersonicz official concluded.
Source: The Standard
