“Almost every war that broke out since the beginning of civilization on the banks of the Nile had something to do with land,” said Liberian Vice President Joseph N. Boakai at the launch of a consultation organized by the Governance Commission on the Land Reform at the Samuel K. Doe Stadium on Wednesday, May 7, 2008. It was the last in the series of consultative meetings the Commission had held through the country in the past months. Representatives of the public sector of Montserrado County, including surveyors, mayors, and commissioners, representatives of various ministries as well as members of the civil organizations and local communities joined the Commission and representatives of government agencies dealing with land matters to brainstorm on the many delicate issues.

Chaired by Sandra Howard-Kendor, the consultations were attended by more than 150 people, who after the opening ceremony, broke up into four discussion groups to comb over a series of questions put forward by the Commission.

In her opening remarks, Commissioner Howard-Kendor said that “the issue of land is very crucial in post-conflict Liberia and a potential area for possible conflict. She added the Commission, as lead coordinating agency wants to articulate “discussions on the way forward for initiating the reform on land use, management and title, in clearer, transparent, legal and judicial manner.”

Vice President Boakai pointed out that the government was working on a variety of policies that would ensure an equitable land policy in the framework of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (SRP). He said government was looking at cases, e.g. the Ducor land issue, but will not rush to make any decision and wants to avoid making the same mistakes of past administrations. “Before we take any step, we want to consult our people, throughout the breadth and length of this nation. We will then set up a Land Commission that would lay out policies to consider every situation.” Vice President Boakai emphasized the link between peace and land issue.

Land tenure and peace are closely linked in Liberia, for obvious historical reasons. The very setting of Liberia, as underscored by the Assistant Minister for Lands, Surveying and Cartography at the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, Julu Johnson, gave rise to conflict around land ownership. He said that land tenure in Liberia went through two fundamental stages, starting with the pre-colonial era when the customary land ownership prevailed until independence in 1850. From 1850, the customary land ownership was replaced by statutory land ownership.

Throughout Wednesday and Thursday morning, the four groups discussed an array of subjects relating to land and put together recommendations that were later presented in the final plenary session on Thursday, chaired by Commission Chairman, Dr. Amos C. Sawyer.

The four groups discussed zoning laws, public education, access of women and youth to landownership, the difference between a stranger and a foreigner when it comes to land acquisition, the different types of land -public, private, communal, swamp land.

One result of the Liberia civil crisis has been the large migration of people from rural areas to Monrovia, this has first led to people occupying public and private buildings and latter on, when displaced centers were officially closed, the newcomers chose to build habitation on lands at random. This brought the “false legal” notion of “squatters’ right. This subject was discussed mainly by the Assistant Minister of Land and he quickly pointed out that there was no such thing as “squatters’ rights.”

Some participants pointed out that the illegal land occupation is sometimes encouraged by government when its agents collect real estate taxes from squatters.

As recently as a few days ago, land dispute has led to deaths in Maryland County, while in Bassa County relationships between locals and a rubber company have been severely tested about the same issue. For many years, formally cordial ties between the various ethnic groups in Nimba and Lofa have turned sour once refugees and displaced people started to return home and found their land occupied by others. One of the topics discussed concerned how these land disputes were resolved at the community level.

The groups made several recommendations that included but are not limited to the comprehensive enforcement of zoning laws, especially in Monrovia, the standardization of all land regulations, improvement of record keeping, the imposition of taxes on land not developed by owners and a creation of a credit system for the purpose of land development.

There was a consensus among groups that the family or community elder approach to resolving dispute was the most effective so far. The Mayor of Ganta said that her community was able to resolve many of the critical issues.

However, the most contentious and emotionally charged subject was that of land ownership by foreigners. There was an agreement on the fact that in Liberian parlance, “stranger means someone who move from one village or county to another one.” That person must go through locals to secure land. When the discussion turned to the issue of “foreigners,” the tension rose in the audience.

In Liberia, land-ownership is tied to citizenship and citizenship is tied to a specific race: only people of Negro descent can be citizens on Liberia. By correlation, non-negroes can neither own land nor attain citizenship.

Dr. Brandy said he was happy that Dr. Amos C. Sawyer would lead the discussion on the subject because of its delicate nature. Every person in the 150-person audience seemed to want to address the subject. The lines of demarcation were clearly drawn from the onset. A member of the audience suggested that opening citizenship and land ownership to the “white man” could enhance the development process, adding that “people come here and make money and because they cannot be citizens, they take their money and go build home in Ivory Coast, Nigeria or Lebanon…” His last words were drowned by boos. Dr. Sawyer had to remind the audience that Liberians needed not agreed but had to accept and respect each other’s views on any subject. A young person from Brewerville said that granting the right to non-negroes to own land in Liberia was like selling “away our birth right… If the international community wants to help, let them help but we must not allow them to come here and dictate to us about how to run our country” received a thunderous applause. The lines seemed clearly drawn between the two extreme positions and a few people tried to find a common ground, suggesting that may be “non-negroes” could be granted some limited rights.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Sawyer pointed out that it was time that Liberians move away from its archaic and checkered past based on a certain reading of history that continues to perpetuate many false notions about the national identity. He added that the government was planning to set up a Land Commission that would serve as a conduit to resolving all land issues as well as formulating policies. “We must review our national symbols for the sake of national unity.”

On Tuesday, May 13, the Commission organized a briefing session for political parties and civil society organizations to go over some of the same issues. The meeting lasted about three hours and several political parties were present and participated in a lengthy debate about land tenure and land reform. Dr. Sawyer told the audience that the discussions were aimed at creating awareness about the process and is an important step in the process of good governance.

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