Goderich Headman in Court
Mustapha Kamara the tribal head of the Goderich village on Monday 5th March made his first appearance in front of Magistrate Seray Wurie of Court No. 1 on a civil sermon for allegedly maliciously damaging a temporary structure covered with a zinc structure commonly known as pan body erected at the village cemetery west of the capital city of Freetown.
Testifying in court, the tribal head man told the court that since he was born in 1964 the disputed land had always been known to be a cemetery that all surrounding communities in Goderich have been utilizing to bury their loved ones.
He further told the court that as a tribal headman, he had ordered the youths to clean the cemetery on the 31st January this year as a result of complaints by community members that the burial site had grown bushy.
On the contrary, Theophilus J.E. Davie told the court that he is the owner of the land which is being used as a cemetery at Goderich village and said he had tendered to the courts all documents to substantiate his claims before the court on Monday 5th March 2012.
He further claimed that he registered the said land in the office of the Master Registrar and the Ministry of Lands respectively.
Chief Sesay Cole the oldest traditional elder in the Goderich Community told this medium that since 1930 the cemetery was known to be a community cemetery and that he is wondering how come Davies is claiming to be the owner of the land where the community’s cemetery is located.
In an exclusive interview, Mr. Ibrahim Kabba Councilor of Ward 331 in Constituency 93 in the Goderich community told Sierra Express that Mr. Davie did not only sue the tribal headman to court but the entire community.
Meanwhile as a result of the conflict all business has come to a halt and that the disputed land is the only land available for the purpose of burials, noting that the community is not ready to give up the land for anybody.
According to Local Unit Commander Theophilus Senessie of Gbendebu Goderich’s police division a report was made by Theophilus Davies and that all efforts to settle the issue proved futile as Mr. Davie was reluctant to abide to any negotiated settlement.
For now, it has been reported that the entire village has been put under a siege by angry youths.
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