‘African tribe’ camping in Scottish woods stays put despite council’s deadline

A self-styled “African tribe” who are camping in woodland in the Scottish Borders are staying put despite an eviction notice from the local council.

The so-called Kingdom of Kubala was ordered to vacate the land on the outskirts of Jedburgh by midday on Monday, after Scottish Borders Council began legal action to evict them.

They had previously been staying on private land a few metres away, but simply set up a new camp on council property when sheriff officers were sent in.

The “tribe” – which has a sizeable presence on social media – is made up of leader Kofi Offeh, 36, the self-proclaimed King Atehene, his wife Jean Gasho, 43, who calls herself Queen Nandi, and “handmaiden” Kaura Taylor, who calls herself Asnat.

On Monday afternoon, they sat around a campfire singing songs with a number of tents and other camping equipment still on the site, showing no intention of leaving.

The “handmaiden” said the “king” would not be speaking to the media unless gifts were brought to him.

It is understood the council will shortly seek an order from a sheriff to remove the trio now that the deadline has passed.

On Tuesday last week, sheriff officers carried out the eviction from their previous campsite, though they simply set up a new camp on the other side of a small fence.

They had been camping near Jedburgh for the past few weeks and have ignored previous ultimatums to leave.

Last week, Scott Hamilton, the Conservative deputy leader of Scottish Borders Council, said that “nobody is above the law and no matter how long this takes you can be guaranteed we will not cease”.

He said the group had repeatedly failed to engage with the council and legal proceedings which would enable an eviction had begun.

The three members of the self-proclaimed “kingdom” have previously said they are reclaiming land that was stolen from their ancestors 400 years ago.

In a post on Facebook on Friday, they said: “The Kingdom of Kubala can never be destroyed.”

A spokesman for Scottish Borders Council said: “The legal process to remove the occupants from the council’s land has commenced and officers will proceed through the next steps as quickly as possible.”