By Tabora Bojang
Alpha Barry, the chairman of Alpha Kapital, the firm hired by government to sell some of the properties seized from former president Yahya Jammeh disclosed before the parliamentary enquiry that Hamza Barrack, a military facility located at Mile 2 in Banjul was sold and paid for but the soldiers refused to vacate the premises.
Hamza Barracks, formerly the Palm Grove Hotel, was converted into a military barracks by the former president. Following Jammeh’s removal, it was placed among the properties forfeited to the state following the adoption of a white paper on the findings of the Janneh Commission.
In March 2025 during a parliamentary session, Justice Minister Dawda Jallow was asked to clarify whether the barracks had been sold for D1.2 million. He told lawmakers that while the property had been listed for sale, President Adama Barrow intervened and halted the transaction upon being informed about it to ensure it remains available for state use.
Minister Jallow elaborated: “Initially, Hamza Barracks was on the list of properties to be sold but a directive was issued to keep it, which is why soldiers are still occupying it.”
But Alpha Barry, whose firm was hired to sell the assets of Jammeh following the termination of Augustus Prom’s receivership, told the parliamentary inquiry yesterday: “Some of the properties were occupied by the army but they refused to move. In fact, some of the sales were cancelled because the army wouldn’t move. If you look at Hamza Barracks it was sold and paid for but the buyer could not get access to the facility and we eventually had to refund the money to the buyer and sale was cancelled.”
Asked who was the buyer, Mr Barry said it was Gai Enterprise or another company he could not recall.
He narrated that there was another property occupied by soldiers in Kanifing which was sold to Shyben Madi & Sons company but the soldiers occupying the property refused to vacate.
“This property too was sold and paid for but the soldiers refused to vacate. We held the money for quite some time before refunding it to the buyer,” Barry told lawmakers.
Asked if he engaged the chief of defense staff of the Gambia Armed Forces about the soldiers’ refusal to vacate the premises, Mr Barry said he only communicated the matter to the minister of justice to make further engagements.
