Anytime you hear the Minister of Lands using enormous power to reclaim the legitimate property of peaceful citizens, the first thing that comes into mind is who is behind the Minister for that action.
Most times, the Minister has been influenced by those in high places, and/or he does so out of his own volition because of what he stands to benefit.
Like Denis Sandy, Turad Senesie, is on record of dispossessing the legitimate property of many people, either for his own personal aggrandizement or to please his master and influencers.
Turad’s zest for land reclamation has been manifested day- by-day with him targeting of people, especially those who he has no connection with, either by blood, socialism, and/or politics. He seeks solace in such move. Of recent, Turad, used his land reclamation tactics to take undue advantage over the property of Sierra Leoneans residing in the diaspora, among whom is Alpha Conteh, a Sierra Leonean based in the United States of America.
Sometime in 2019, Alpha and his family purchased acres of land at Tokeh Village through Alhaji Slowe, the former Tokeh Headman. Before entering into the land deal, Alpha did a background check to verify the property and its ownership at the Ministry of Lands. It was revealed to him by the Ministry of Lands that the property was a private property that belonged to Alhaji Slowe.
All documentations were verified before the land deal was successfully done between Alhaji Slowe and the Conteh Family.
A year after the deal, the Conteh Family was approached by one official in the Ministry of Lands, Mr. Noah, who approached Alpha Conteh, and told him emphatically that the land in question is a state property, and even suggested to him to give him half of the property to strike a compromise.
Alpha Conteh refused to dance to the tune of Mr. Noah, who later incorporated his team from the Ministry, including the Minister, to destroy the erected perimeter fence of the Conteh property, costing millions of Leones. The Ministry dispossessed the land from the Conteh family and distributed it to several individuals, some of whom have started putting up protective structures on the land. Unconfirmed sources revealed to this press that the beneficiaries of that Tokeh land are close associates to the First Family.
Speaking to this Press, a claimant of the land and a Sierra Leonean based in United States, explained all that transpired when he purchased the land in 2019, including when he was approached by someone at the Ministry of Lands a year after the land deal, down to the latest development. Alpha explained that everything was going smoothly initially about the land, until later when he started hearing strange news that the land in question is a state land. Upon hearing the news, Alpha travelled immediately to Sierra Leone to straighten things and produced his document to clear the doubts. Alpha was first approached by one Mr. Noah, an official from the Ministry of Lands, who suggested of giving him half of the property to strike a compromise. Alpha refused to dance to the tunes of Mr. Noah. He later had a meeting with the Minister of Lands to show proof of his document for the land, but the Minister refused to countenance it, and instead told him to his face that: “all lands in Sierra Leone are state lands, unless it was granted to you by government”.
After that fruitless endeavor, the Minister reclaimed the Conteh family land and distributed it to certain individuals, suspected of paying hefty money for possession of the property.
Recently, this press mounted an investigation to know the latest about the land in question, after making several attempts to get in touch with the Minister on the subject under investigation. It became glaringly clear that the Minister has distributed the land to several individuals, alleged to have close connections to the powers that be. The land was distributed to high ranking police officers and big guns in this Government, thereby depriving the Conteh family of their legitimate property.
The beneficiaries are erecting permanent structures on the land, with pictorial evidence showing various building projects and materials already being transported to the sites.
The matter has been brought to Court by the Conteh family to challenge the decision of the Lands Minister, and buyers of the Conteh family land are advised to think twice.
