Brikama Council Chairman Rejects Minister’s Warning on Kora Monument, Calls It Politically Motivated

By Makutu Manneh

The chairman of the Brikama Area Council, Yankuba Darboe, has rejected a warning by the Minister of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure that the Kora monument currently under construction by the council in Brikama Central could be demolished to make way for a proposed dual carriageway.

The minister, Ebrima Sillah, made the remarks during an interview with the state broadcaster, GRTS, excerpts of which were reported by Kerr Fatou.

Mr. Darboe dismissed the minister’s claim as false and accused the central government of attempting to undermine a local development project undertaken by the council.

“Dishonorable Minister Ebrima Sillah is blatantly lying to justify the central government’s attempt to demolish BAC’s beautification project for the betterment of Brikama and WCR,” Mr. Darboe said in a statement posted on Facebook. “It is nothing more than a political witch hunt.”

Chairman Darboe said that in early February 2025, he led a delegation of planning officials and councillors to the headquarters of the National Roads Authority, where they met with senior officials, including the agency’s former and current directors. During the meeting, he said, council officials outlined plans to develop public spaces along the road corridor stretching from Brikama Jah Oil to the location where the Kora Monument now stands.

According to Mr. Darboe, council officials sought assurances from the authority about whether there were any plans to expand the road that could affect the project.

“We were informed in clear terms that it would be a great idea, which they supported, and that they had no plans for that road. They said they had a World Bank-funded project for 160 kilometers of roads in the whole country. This would include a dual carriageway from Yundum to Bullock via the Kabafita trans-Gambia highway. It would also include the Kassakunda to Gunjur Road, Brikama Gidda to Mandinaba Road,” he said.

But the stretch of road where the monument was built was not among the planned projects, he added.

Mr. Darboe said officials from the National Roads Authority later visited the Brikama Area Council offices and toured the proposed drainage and public-space sites without raising objections related to a potential road expansion.

“However, due to their envy and political witch hunt of BAC, they are now resorting to fabrications to justify their impediment to our council’s progressive works,” he said.

Mr. Darboe also argued that the monument had been positioned in line with existing shop fronts along the market area and said that removing it for a road corridor would require clearing additional nearby structures.

He questioned whether the minister was familiar with the area, noting that the monument sits in the center of Brikama’s main market district.

Urban planners, he said, should instead consider pedestrianizing the road rather than expanding it.

“Any reasonable and serious development planner would see that it is not suitable for a superhighway in the heart of a market,” he said.