PHOTO: Officials of CSOs working group
By William Selmah, wselmah@gmail.com
The Civil Society Organization, CSO Working Group on Land Rights Reform in Liberia has warned of an explosion of full blown land conflict in Liberia, unless the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) urgently steps in by developing regulations and implementing speedy development of regulations in for enforcing the Land Rights Law including the customary land rights component of the law.
“Land grabs by elites resulting in land conflicts and human rights violations have been reported and documented across customary communities and there are no options available for communities who have been affected to seek redress at the local levels,” the grouping of CSOs said in a press statement read by Maima Brooks of Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU).
The conglomeration of land rights CSOs spoke of a surge in land grabs thus culminating into chaos that have in recent time witnessed some of the worst forms of physical attacks, mass displacements and even disappearance of community residents. They said the LLA is yet to look into the violations wit deserved attention.
The Land Rights Act (LRA), which safeguards community customary land ownership by recognizing local people’s rights to their lands without formal title or deed, was passed into law and printed into handbill in September 2018. But since then, the intent of that instrument is far from being realized, with land grabbers not only driving away locals, but destroying their livelihood sources and polluting their environment as well.
CSOs want the LLA to prevent other instruments like the Criminal Conveyance Law from dying natural death and instead put it to work. “We will not sit there and let it die just like that. It will live, sit up, walk and even talk, the groups said.
Several organizations make up the CSO Working Group on Land Rights Reform in Liberia including Sustainable Development Institute, SAMFU, Rights and Rice Foundation, among others.