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A self-styled African tribe in Scotland has claimed woodland near Jedburgh in Scotland as ancestral land and set up camp there, despite repeated evictions.
The Scottish Borders Council said sheriff officers had already cleared the group from private land on Tuesday, but not long after, they moved a few metres away onto council-owned property. The council has now launched fresh court proceedings to remove them.
As reported by BBC on Tuesday, the three members of the self-proclaimed “Kingdom of Kubala” were woken by sheriff officers at 08:00 on Tuesday and removed from their original encampment in private woodland.
However, the group, led by Ghanaian Kofi Offeh, 36, who calls himself King Atehehe, alongside Zimbabwean Jean Gasho (Queen Nandi) and American Kaura Taylor (Asnat), quickly re-established their camp over a fence on council land.
Kofi Offeh, who calls himself King Atehehe, is from Ghana. Photo credit: BBC
They insist they are “reclaiming land stolen 400 years ago”, a claim dismissed by the council as unlawful occupation. “We are not trespassers, we are reclaiming what belongs to our ancestors,” Offeh declared.
Deputy leader of the council, Scott Hamilton, confirmed that new legal papers had been filed. “They have rebuffed every opportunity to engage with us. We can help them, but we won’t sit back and let them break the law,” he said.
The eviction order was issued last week by Sheriff Peter Paterson after the group ignored earlier instructions to vacate. Officials and police officers spent nearly 90 minutes dismantling their tents and packing up belongings before the relocation.
The group, which first arrived in Jedburgh in the spring, have attracted a significant online following, with more than 100,000 supporters across TikTok and Facebook.
They previously camped at multiple sites, including hillside land above the town and woodland near an industrial estate, each time facing legal challenges from landowners.
Local officials said the repeated encampments had left owners with “no option” but to seek court-backed eviction orders. Hamilton described the latest move as “disappointing but not surprising.”
Despite mounting legal pressure, the “Kingdom of Kubala” has vowed to remain in Jedburgh, insisting its claim to the land is legitimate and symbolic of its ancestral rights.
The group previously camped on the left of the wire fence and has now moved a few metres to the right. Photo credit: BBC
