MONROVIA : In order to prove legitimate ownership of a parcel of land which the Farley’s family has accused Representative Abu Kamara of illegally laying claims on, the Farleys have thrown a challenge at the District #15 lawmaker to produce his deed duly issued by the Liberia Land Authority and wondered why the government of Liberia is not pursuing the land case with the Farley’s family but instead it is the representative that is personally pushing ownership of the land while at the same time saying the land belongs to the government. The family claims that the land has been theirs legally for more than 50 years.
Speaking to The Analyst yesterday on behalf of the family, Mr. Garlo Farley son of the late Thomas K. Farley Sr. made some salient points to question the legitimacy of Representative’s claims where he ( Garlo Farley) said he could not fathom how the lawmaker will be saying on the one hand that the government is exercising eminent domain over the property and on the other hand Representative Kamara instructing his contracted surveyor Stephen J. Bing to survey the said parcel of land for his personal interest.
“This is baffling and laughable and that shows that Representative Kamara is making false claims to the land which is legitimately our property. He said the government is exercising eminent domain over the property and in that case, we should expect the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) to be leading the process but sadly, it is Representative Kamara that is also on the other hand instructing his surveyor to survey the land on his behalf. Does it mean he is surveying on behalf of the government or himself? Just look at the contradiction. There is no way he can twist the facts; the facts are there that he has no claims to our property.
“We have a legal deed. Can he show us his government deeds? And that is why we tried to get him to go to court, where we both can present our deeds and the issue will be settled by a judge. This is the issue. We are not claiming the entire land he’s developing, rather the portion that is on our side of the land”, Garlo Farley said.
In a survey notice dated May 19, 2023 from a registered land surveyor, Stephen J. Bing contracted by Representative Kamara, several owners of adjacent properties were asked to turn out on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 10:00 am for the demarcation of the parcel of land which is in dispute between the lawmaker and the Farley’s family.
“I, the undersigned registered land surveyor, have been contracted by Hon. Abu B. Kamara to conduct a demarcation survey on one (1) Acre parcel of Land from the Estate of the late Sumo Gbee, represented by its Administrators Mully S. Gbee, Jerome Sandi Gbee and Amadu Gbee, located in Block No. 1 part situated in Logan Town, Bushrod Island, Montserrado County on behalf of him.
“The parcel of land to be demarcated is situated at the Ranger Field, Logan Town, Bushrod Island, Montserrado County.
“Therefore, all adjoining property owners are kindly asked to be present on the day and time of the survey exercise with your deed(s) or any legal document to verify your claim”, the notice said.
Those named to be present for the survey according to the notice include the Honorable Commissioner of District #15, Logan Town, Bushrod Island, Montserrado County, the Pusah family, The Thomas Farley, the Cornerstones with the initial TKD and the Administrators of the late Sumo Gbee Estate
Garlo Farley said upon receipt of the notice, his family informed their lawyers, the Weah and Associates of the situation and in a swift action a letter written by Cllr. Randall J. Grant on behalf of the lawyers dated May 25, 2023 was sent to surveyor Bing telling him not to go ahead with the exercise because the case was in court.
“Upon receipt of this communication, please be informed that there is pending litigation in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Law Court between the parties undetermined for which we request you to desist from conducting any survey on the subject property. Attached hereto is a copy of the complaint filed before the civil law court for your acknowledgement as evident of our assertion.
“It will be unlawful for you to conduct any survey, while the case is subjudice pending determination by the court”, the letter said.
Garlo Farley also said Representative Kamara in a desperate way to claim the property forcibly at all cost enlisted the connivance of one Daniel Debois, an employee of the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) who claimed that he was sent by authorities at LLA to vouch for the entity that the land in question belongs to the government and that it was “exercising eminent domain over the property of the late Thomas Farley to claim same for the construction of a mini football stadium and that no one should disturb the entire process”.
In a letter addressed to Mr. J. Adams Manobah, Sr, Chairman of the Liberia Land Authority, dated May 30, 2023, the family complained Daniel Debois to the LLA authority on his role he played and from their own investigation, Debois was never sent by the authority but acted in his own stead and made false claims that he was mandated to convey the message that no one should hinder the project being carried by Kamara on their land.
“While that litigation is pending undetermined, Hon. Abu B. Kamara led some people on the property in an attempt to carry out survey of the same property, this time along with your employee, Daniel Debois who openly told us and the public that he had been sent by the authorities of the Liberia Land Authority and that the government was carrying out an exercise of Eminent Domain over the property of the late Thomas Farley to claim same for the construction of a mini football stadium and that no one should disturb the entire process”, part of the letter read.
Garlo said while following up the case at the LLA, the authorities there denied ever sending anyone to represent the institution and were not aware of the particular land issue for which the government was exercising eminent domain. “A call was placed to Daniel Debois right in our presence to ascertain his role in the land case but he only responded by saying he will explain further to the authorities when he gets back to the office and that showed how he was lying and wanted to hide the facts”, Garlo Farley said.
Challenging Representative Kamara further, Garlo said the lawmaker was using the name of the government to conceal the facts that he has no legal claim to the property because he has not being able to produce any paper indicating that the government has eminent domain and wondered further why the government or any of its accredited agents has not being visible to exert the action of the government.
“Why are there thugs present on the property instead of government security institutions or agents? Where is the document on the eminent domain?” Garlo Farley asserted.
He also said if Kamara was actually believes that the land is his, why has he not been able to respond to a communication addressed to him dated April 7, 2022 calling on him to stop all work being done on their property as well as working behind the scene to discourage agents who acted on his behalf and constituted themselves as persons of interest in the said land case from appearing in court after arrest warrants were issued on them from the Civil Law Court since June 2022.
Garlo told The Analyst that the family vow to pursue the case legally to its logical conclusion as all facts are available that the land in question belongs to the Farley’s family.
He shared a photograph of the disputed piece of land where a graphical demonstration on the photo showed that piece of land behind the property of the family which is 123.5 ft east and 200ft south towards the river belongs to them.
Meanwhile, reporters who visited the site of the property to conduct interviews with the Farley’s family on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 were obstructed by thugs, most of whom have been stationed there since the dispute on the land started. Video footings in possession of The Analyst speak to some of the thugs putting up serious resistance that there will be no interview and that in fact the proposed mini-football stadium is “the President’s project, nothing can stop it no matter how you want it”, one of the thugs said in the video and similar statements from most of them could be heard in the video threatening to harm the family should they go ahead to give publicity to the case.
However, Representative Abu Kamara, yesterday denied the accusations levied against him by the Farley family when he spoke to some media institutions in his office, describing the allegations as “baseless and intended to defame my good name”.
Speaking further on the allegation as it relates to trying to forcibly take over the disputed parcel of land, the lawmaker said he was a man of peace and for those who “know me from boy to man can attest to it that I am not a man of violence” and that all the due processes including announcements for the survey for parties around the vicinity of the proposed mini-football stadium were all contacted, stressing that the land is owned by the government of Liberia.
While maintaining that the project will go on as planned despite the dispute, he also asked the Farley’s family to seek legal redress against the government of Liberia if they ever have claims about the parcel of land in contention.
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