Head of Brand and Communications
OIC Gambia Secretariat
By Landing Ceesay
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Gambia Secretariat is set to start the construction of a 5-star hotel at the Global Home of Medical Mission (GHoMM).
The 5-star hotel is part of the OIC Gambia preparation to host the 2022 OIC summit.
In the light of the controversy surrounding the said property, asked about the legality of the OIC Gambia Secretariat acquiring the property for the 5-star hotel project, Nfally Fadera, Head of Brand and Communications at the Secretariat said his institution has legally acquired the place.
“As far as the OIC is concerned this piece of land is not in any legal entanglement in the sense that we have an intergovernmental committee responsible for overseeing matters related to this hotel, the land included. So everything that we do, particularly the expropriation of the land and everything else around, has been done within the remit of the law and in line with the due process stipulated in this country.
“Everything that we have done was done under the guidance of the Ministry of Justice; was done under the guidance of the Ministry of Lands; Physical Planning and the Municipalities, my office (OIC Gambia), (and) the Ministry of Tourism. So everything that we do I can assure and guarantee you that it is in line with the law and as far as we are concerned, this land is not entangled in any legal matter,” he told this reporter.
The Head of Brand and Communications at OIC Gambia emphasised that the selection of the said place went through an intergovernmental process with people from the Ministry of Tourism, from my office (OIC Gambia), from the Ministry of Justice, from the Department of Lands, and Physical planning and so on.
The allocated site for the construction of the hotel for the 2022 OIC Summit in Banjul was previously occupied by the Police Anti-Crime Unit but it originally belong to an NGO, Global Home for Medical Mission before its closure and subsequent expulsion in 2010 by the former President Yahya Jammeh without explanation in 2010 unceremoniously expelled them from The Gambia.
According to the documents obtained by Kerr Fatou, Global HOMM has won two court cases against the State in 2019 over its ownership claim of the said property. Despite the court rulings, the NGO still struggles to take control of the property.
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