Pa Omar Faal has defeated Swaibou Faal in a bitter battle for alkalo of Latrikunda Yeringanya after the ministry of local government intervened.
The duo was locked in a bitter row over who should be the new leader of Latrikunda Yeringanya in a crisis that has spanned many months.
Pa Omar is an uncle in the large Faal family of the town who insisted he was next in line for the coveted leadership role while Swaibu said it was his turn to hold the role, previously held by his late father.
The Kanifing Municipal Council had for months been trying to address crisis but there remained no breakthrough.
The ministry of local government has now intervened and has ruled Pa Omar Faal the next alkalo of Latrikunda Yeringaya.
“The law clearly indicated that the minister shall appoint an alkalo in consultation with the governor and the chief. But further, it states that while the minister is doing this, he will consider the traditional line of inheritance,” local government ministry permanent secretary Buba Sanyang told West Coast Radio in an exclusive interview.
“So I want to make it on record that the law says we should follow traditional lines of inheritance. I want to give you an example: we all know Gambians tribes have the same standards in terms of following our traditional lines of inheritance in the sense that if you are a father or an uncle in a family, however young you are, you are considered before a son or a nephew.
“I think this is across our customs and traditions in this country. If you are a father, I might be 25 years as a father, somebody might be 40 years as a son but when the throne comes, they consider the father first before the son. Unless and until I say I am not interested. Because that one (Swaibu) is not in the line of fathers. Pa Omar Faal is an uncle and Swaibu is a son,” he said.
