Saturday Gueh Town, River Cess County – Local authorities of River Cess have clarified that there has been no replacement of chiefs in the county’s Kahnkaye Chiefdom, calling the so-called elections to remove them as “bogus” and “inciting”.
Paramount Chief David Vancia and Clan Chief Obed Dahn were not voted out in an election conducted by a group of elders in April over their alleged association with Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) that is negotiating with the community prior to engaging the government of Liberia to open a new company there.
“As far as I am concerned, there has been no chieftaincy elections, so that is wrongfully out of the discussion,” Superintendent Bismark Karbiah told FrontPage Africa in an interview.
“certain people signed a piece of paper and brought it to me and I told them that [that was not the right process] so no one can be changed. David Vancia and Obed Dahn are all legitimate workers of the [Ministry of Internal Affairs],” Superintendent Karbiah added.
The District Commissioner of the Nyorwein Administrative District, where Kahnkaye is located, reechoed Superintendent Karbiah’s position, saying that there is no legitimate election in the chiefdom without the consent of local authorities.
Paramount Chief Vancia told FrontPage Africa via mobile phone that he had been undergoing treatment in Monrovia for a good part of the year but said he was not honoring any “plot to undermine his office”.
Clan Chief Dahn said he was still in position and to disregard allegations. “We are still working,” he said in an interview in Korkor David town just across the Timbo River from River Cess. “I am still the Clan Chief. I am handling pressing cases in my area as Clan Chief.”
Twenty-six of 26 Towns in Kayah Clan have given their consent to EPO to open a new oil palm company there but some members of the other towns have accused the company of bribing influential residents.
EPO has refuted such accusations in an emailed interview. “The allegations are false and baseless,” it slammed.
EPO stated in April when the accusation was made it had “not bribed anybody in Kahnkaye. Those who want us are those we go to.”
EPO sought the guidance of a nongovernmental organization, Inclusive Development Consultancy (IDEC), to engage communities in Rivercess including Kahnkaye and advise the company after the company received an invitation letter from communities for land development in 2016.
EPO stressed that they are committed to follow the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) processes to acquiring land in all of their operations. “Our engagements here are based on the recommendations by this (IDEC) study as we strive to ensure transparency and FPIC compliance,” EPO said.
“We have always respected and will continue to respect the decision of community members and will only operate where it has been consented by the communities in adherence to FPIC,” EPO continued.
“Our commitment to FPIC is proven where a community grievance was resolved amicably through constructive engagement with the participation of all stakeholders and inclusive of Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Oil Palm (RSPO) that led to the signing of an MOU in 2016,” EPO added. EPO was referencing to work by another company named LIBINC in Jogbahn Clan, Grand Bassa County where the company resolved a conflict it inherited with community people over its plantation.