The Multi-actors Platform on Land Governance and Responsible Agricultural Investment in Liberia (MAP Liberia Land Platform) in collaboration with the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) and Civil Society Working Group on Land Reform have engaged policymakers and key state actors to present the current state of the Land Rights Law including progress, gabs and challenges. The engagement was also intended to draw the attention of government support to the land sector in Liberia.
Speaking Monday, July 15, 2024, on behalf of the Land Rights group, Aretha K. Togbah, Program Manager of the Organization for Women Empowerment disclosed that the land right group represents over 50 institutions from government, CSOs, private sector groups, academia, research institutions, and community-based organizations working on Land Reform in Liberia.
According to her, “Secured land tenure of customary land communities have become a major priority in Liberia, Africa and the world at large. Unquestionably secure tenure can support stabilization, it can improve rural economic growth, help to diminish urban migration and risks of human trafficking, it can also help Liberian business to grow so there is not only job creation for rural Liberians but the opportunity to grow Liberian private sector.”
Madam Togbah indicated that Liberia’s land history is one of dispossession and marginalization, where land was owned by a small class of people (private land) and the state (public land), leaving millions of Liberians without tenure security. She noted that the passes of the Land Right Law in 2018 is a landmark legislation which addresses long-standing injustices and inequities in land ownership that have plagued Liberia since its inception.
“For the first time in Liberia’s history, majority of Liberians now have the right to use, own, and govern their customary land, fostering participation in the nation’s economic growth and development,” Madam Togbah stated.
The Program Manager of Organization for Women Empowerment explained that since the enactment of the Land Rights Act, the Government of Liberia has worked closely with civil society, and with support from national and international organizations and has made significant progress towards securing land rights for communities.
She revealed that with that, the several milestones have been achieved including development of regulations to support the implementation of the Law, the Government with World Bank Support has produced a Field Manual for all stakeholders to use in formalization procedures. She also said decentralizing of the Land Authority is progressing, with six (6) county-level Land Authority offices equipped and functioning with trained staffs.
According to her, with support from the World Bank and the Swedish Government, 19 new land surveyors of the LLA, 13 of them females have been trained and re-oriented to work in different parts of Liberia and additionally, 40 surveyors have been licensed by the Surveyors Licensing and Registration Board (SLRB). Speaking on challenges faced by the land sector, Madam Togbah stated that the land sector faces numerous obstacles that impede progress and hinder opportunities.
She narrated that the Community Land Formalization Process (CLRF) include, six steps which have been outlined by the LLA for communities to formalize their land and the sector, including its institutions, has become too slow in progress such that communities have not been able to get their deeds as has been expected.
She added that little over 25 deeds so far are far low in terms of the time frame since the law was passed in 2018; a situation thereby preventing communities from engaging in productive ventures for use of their land. For his part, District #11 Representative, Richard R. Koon noted that there are many issues relating to the land right law at the level of the rural side when it comes to law making.
The District #11 lawmaker assured the group that he and his colleagues will work with the recommendations that were disclosed by the group; saying, they, as lawmakers will ensure that those recommendations are successful. Representative Koon told the land right group to always involve the ARREST lawmakers whenever they are presenting recommendations to both Houses of the Legislature.
