John W. Bruce, Mark S. Freudenberger and Tidiane Ngaido (1995):
Old Wine in New Bottles:

6. The Gambia: Evolving customary tenures

In The Gambia, customary tenure arrangements are generally protected by national land law, a marked departure from the legal tradition of the neighboring Francophone countries. Recent field studies suggest that customary tenure practices in rural areas provide a high degree of security for rural populations, particularly for primary rights holders or long-term residents of rural communities. The rights of secondary rights holders, such as land borrowers and other temporary users of land, are much less secure. Similarly, customary tenure procedures may be insufficient to protect long-term residents in rural communities from expropriation, especially in areas adjacent to urban centers.