Monrovia – Retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Gladys Johnson, has rallied the support of women in concession areas across the country against the 53rd Legislature, blaming them for the underdevelopment of the country and the abject poverty which it endures.
Launching a research report on the impact of Liberia’s large scale concession on women’s land and natural resources rights, retired Justice Johnson said:
“The next time you cast your votes for Senators and representatives, make sure that it is not those who were there when these things happened.”
Dubbed as “Women: The Least Secure Tenure”, the research report was conducted by the Natural Resources Women Platform, the Alliance for Rural Democracy and Green Advocates International with funding provided by US based Rights and Resources Initiatives (RRI).
The report, which highlights situation women are faced with in large scale land concession areas, seeks to assess the impacts these multinational concessions are having on their tenure rights and as well make recommendations to address the gaps and grievances of women in concession areas.
The study looks at the nature of women’s tenure rights prior to and after the granting of concessions as in the case of Sime Darby, Goldren Veroleum, EJ & J Logging, Equatorial Palm Oil and Maryland Oil Palm Plantation, to determine the change that have occurred as a result of the concessions.
The report highlights abuses allegedly perpetrated against women by multinational companies and the government. It also captures the lack of development and the deplorable road network in areas affected by these companies’ operations.
Launching the report at a huge gathering of local and international civil society actors, Retired Justice Johnson told the women that the solution to their problems was in their hands, but said “You have not used it properly”.
“Every day you sit and complain about your road being bad, pregnant women dying due to lack of proper health facilities and that you don’t have safe drinking water.”
According to her, they should be complaining to people they elected as their representatives because they are the ones who approved the national budget.
Retired Justice Johnson, who also served as Chairman of the Independent National Commission Human Rights reiterated -,
“Don’t vote for the current lawmakers who were there when all these things happened to you. I am advising you, do not waste your vote on people who will not represent you properly.”
She said it the lawmakers knew that they have to work for the money they earn at the House of Representatives and Senate they will have to work very hard for the people who employed them.
“But they didn’t do anything until last minute to time when they are ready again. Comes 2017 they will be all in your villages again, the places they didn’t go after the first elections,” the former INCHR Chairperson said.
Madam Johnson indicated that the people’s problems were never prioritized by the current batch of lawmakers, who she claimed will be all over the place in 2017 to solicit the votes of Liberians.
“Please make sure you cast your vote for people who can look into your problem and find solution for you—if you have a lawmaker who knows about how children have to walk for several hours to school, they would advocate for transportation, and about how pregnant women are dying would allot money for better health centers,” Justice Johnson added.
The lead Campaigner at Green Advocates International, Atty. Alfred Brownell said: “These concessions are supposed to reduce poverty in Liberia yet these women are losing their very way of life. The human rights violations they face are beyond anything I’ve seen in my 20 years as an activist.”
Cllr. Brownell said where there were no concessions, women still face challenges, including limited decision-making power, but they typically had access to the lands and forests they needed for their livelihoods.
“Most rely heavily on the land for sustenance, income, medicines, and cultural activities; over 90 percent were involved in farming of some kind,” he said.