By Omar Bah
Bubacarr Bayo, a resident of Latriya, has filed a civil suit against the National Water and Electricity Company Nawec for alleged trespass, seeking D900,000 in damages and any further orders the court may deem appropriate.
Bayo is also asking the court to compel Nawec to enforce a letter addressed to him on February 17, 2025, and to require the GERMP Project to produce the agreement document they had with his late parents without delay.
He is also requesting that Nawec send a representative to Latriya to identify the exact area affected by the project.
According to the particulars of claim presented to the court, Mr Bayo has consistently resided with his family in the property located in Latriya village, Kombo North District, where he is the head of the family and the builder of the affected structures.
At the end of 2021, a consultant for the GERMP Project, Momodou Kotu Cham, invited him to their Latriya office to discuss a compensation plan regarding his property impacted by Nawec’s 225 kW power line.
Bayo attended the meeting, but he alleged that Cham, along with Babucarr Corr and other GERMP staff, attempted to coerce him into signing a document granting them his entire land, despite their awareness that not all of the land was affected.
Bayo informed the court that between August and December 2022, he wrote letters to the then-managing director of Nawec, Nani Juwara, and the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Abdoulie Jobe, to address the issues he faced with the GERMP staff. Following this, he was invited to meet with the Minister at the Petroleum House, where he claims he was ‘bullied and intimidated’, and told that his complaint would amount to nothing.
He stated that in early 2023, he made multiple follow-ups with Nawec and the Ministry of Petroleum, but received no response. He said on December 24, 2024, his property was demolished by GERMP staff without prior notice or explanation.
Additionally, Bayo told the court that in mid-January 2025, Nawec and the GERMP Project erected the 225-kW power line above his house, damaging some of his equipment without notice, explanation, compensation, or relocation plan.
“On February 17, 2025, a Nawec staff member named Ousman Marega delivered a letter to me, informing me of their plan to install the 225-kW line and instructed me to evacuate immediately.
Two days later, the line was energised, fully aware that people were living underneath it,” Mr Bayo told the court.
He further expressed to the court that he no longer trusts Nawec.
