By Augustine Octavius
With no letup in land conflicts across Liberia, the Civil Society Organizations Working Group on Land Rights is calling on President George Weah to use his good offices to influence the Senate to pass the Land Rights Act.
The group said the Liberian Senate should be guided by good conscience, equality and influence in supporting the pro-poor bill aimed at protecting community land rights.
The spokeswoman of the CSOs, Lena Cummings said recently that the more CSOs and communities are excluded from participating in the lawmaking process, the more communities are left vulnerable to land tenure insecurity.
According to her, this includes large scale land transactions and potential unlawful land grabs by few group of elites.
Mrs. Cumming urged the lawmakers to move “expeditiously and in a manner that protects the principles of all land tenure for all Liberians, especially majority of rural Liberians who contribute significantly to agriculture and food security in the country but who at present do not have right to ownership.”
The CSO Working Group maintained that it is prepared to work with all stakeholders to improve the bill so that when it is passed in to law, the land rights of all Liberians especially customary land rights will be protected.
“As a group,” the CSO working group said, “ we will be deploying diverse approaches towards engaging the stakeholders.”
In the coming weeks, the group said it “will be reaching out to communities and residents in all the political sub divisions to ensure that the voices of the rural people heard in this process.“
The civil society organizations have meanwhile thanked the Liberian Senate for its on -going efforts and consultations with them and other stakeholders with aim of addressing all major concerns leading to the passage of the land rights bill as soon as possible.
The CSOs have also commended President George Manneh Weah for placing high priority on fighting corruption and improving the Liberian economy, welcoming the proposal by the Liberian leader to reform the land sector in the country.
The CSO Working Group on Land Rights said: “we as a country must continue to align our interest with democratic principles, a pro-poor agenda and acknowledge that community land rights is a universal norm and no longer an exception.“
The CSO Working Group comprises 28 organizations including the National Civil Society Organization, the Women Land Rights Task Force and communities across the Liberia.