ILTF Commends Legislature on Passage of Liberia Land Authority Act

Monrovia – The House of Representatives of the National Legislature on September 20, 2016, concurred with the Liberian Senate for the passage into law of the Liberia Land Authority Act.

The Interim Land Task Force (ILTF) expresses with deepest gratitude, profound thanks and appreciation to the Liberian Senate for the passage of Liberia Land Authority Act and the Honorable House of Representatives for concurrence.

The Task Force appreciates the wisdom of the Legislature and wants to assure the distinguished lawmakers that they have done a great service for the nation through the passage of the Land Authority Act, for which posterity will forever be fair to them in their judgment.

The Task Force anticipates the continued support of the members of the National Legislature during the transition to the new Liberia Land Authority.

The Task Force is also grateful to donors and international partners, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA), World Bank, SIDA, UNMIL, EU, among others, for their unflinching support during the process.

The Task Force is equally grateful to the all passionate supporters and stakeholders in the land sector, including in particular, the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Land Rights Working Group for their unwavering support through advocacy for the passage of the Act.

The establishment of the new Land Authority will bridge the coordination gap that had long existed within the institutional framework of the land sector at both the central and local levels of Government, which has led to serious challenges and the deterioration of land administration capabilities that have negatively impacted policy /program regulatory enforcement and service delivery in the land sector.

The Land Authority will assume land functions from several institutions, including the Department of Lands, Survey and Cartography of the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, Center for National Documents and Record Agency, Ministries of Internal Affairs, and other agencies of Government.

The Liberia Land Authority, as a one-stop-shop for land matters will be responsible for land governance and administration and will promote, support, and ensure the development and implementation of land use plans, among other responsibilities.

Finally, the Task Force wishes to extend thanks and appreciation to the President of Liberia, Her Excellency Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her continued support to the land reform program of Liberia, evident by the submission to the Legislature for enactment of two landmark land bills- Land Rights Bill and the Liberia Land Authority Bill, which has been passed into law by Legislature.

Meanwhile, a conglomeration of 18 Civil Society Organizations under the banner the CSO- Working Group on Land Rights and Reform in Liberia has issued a statement in Monrovia calling on the national legislature to expeditiously pass the 2014 version of the Land Rights bill which among others protects the customary rights of the people to their land.

The CSO- Working Group who commended President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Vice President Joseph N. Boakai and both Houses of the national legislature for their respective roles and support that led to the recent passage of the Land Authority Act, is at the same time pleading with the legislature to avail copy of the proposed Land Rights Act to the group for their input before it is finally pass.

In a statement released September 22, 2016 and read by a representative of the student body within the CSOs Mr. Forstina P. Gongbeh , the Civil Society Organizations explained that their request for the perusal of the proposed Land Rights Act  is aimed at highlighting important provisions and areas that should be protected so as to reflect the principles of land and resource management reforms in the country.

 Gongbeh, a student of the Stella Maris Polytechnic in Monrovia who intoned that the CSO-Working Group is opting to acquire copy of the draft Land Rights Act to ensure that provisions within the instrument remain unchanged until it is passed into law, noted that the CSOs do not want mistake that characterized the passage of the Land Authority Act to be repeated; saying the Land Authority Act was passed into law without the perusal of its provisions by the CSOs.

He emphasized that having access to the proposed Land Rights Act  before its passage into law will put the CSOs in the better position to press for the implementation of provisions in the proposed Act that include protecting the expressed aspirations of the Liberian people and the preservation of the land tenure policy.

Mr. Gongbeh raised particular concerns about provisions in the proposed Act that include management of customary land, public land and large scare land holding.

He stressed that as enshrined in the Land Rights bill customary land should remain under the ownership of the community; public land should be the last category of land to be claimed after every other category is done with; and that claims to all large scale land must be legitimate in line with the bill.

The youthful Polytechnic student revealed that after a hectic exercise last Month, August that saw the CSOs collecting over 13, 000 signatures of citizens from the 15 political sub divisions of Liberia with a petition to the national legislature to protect the code principles of customary land rights, it would be a huge disappointment should the national legislature tamper with those code principles and undermine the provisions in the category of the customary land rights.