Stakeholders in the Land Sector have concluded a three-day high level consultation on the draft regulation in support of the implementation of the Land Rights Act.
The consultative meeting was intended to validate in finalizing the regulations in order to strengthen the Land Right Act especially the issue of Customary land Rights.
Article 71 of the Land Rights Act (LRA) of 2018, mandates the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) to promulgate regulations for the effective implementation of the LRA.
In fulfillment of this mandate, the LLA developed a set of draft regulations in preparation for carrying out inclusive participatory consultations on the draft regulations for the implementation of the LRA.
The regulations were drafted by consultants versed in land tenure and administration as well as Liberian Customary Law and Practices; Dr. Cllr. Jallah A. Barbu, one of the consultants, led the facilitation of the consultations.
LLA Chairperson Atty. J. Adam Manobah said he was impressed with the composition of participants and inputs expressed at the validation.
Atty. Manobah assures that the LLA stands ready to resolve issues surrounding land matter in order to avert any potential conflict.
Atty. Manobah said people are now channeling their grievances through the appropriate entity and speaking about land issue, because the LLA is making sure that people are inform about what is happening in the land sector.
He encouraged the participants to take the message back to the respective communities, institutions and the donor community so that other people can understand how to deal with land matter void of conflict.
“Our offices are open at any time for people to complain and seek redress we all including the President of Liberia intent is to resolve all land conflicts”. Atty. Manobah said.
“There more work to be done to have inter-Agency cooperation and inter-agency collaboration otherwise we will defeat the purpose of the law”.
“But the intent is we will continue to engagement government institutions and government officials until we all can work together” he said.
Atty. Manobah said several other provisions of the Country’s laws were repeal or amended and as such all government Institutions and Officials must take in to consideration the change in the law which in some instances take away prior function or power.
The LLA boss noted that with such an understanding every government institution will know its limitation in terms of what to do.
The lead Consultant on the drafting of the regulations on the implementation of the Land rights Act, Cllr. Jallah Barbu said the drafting of the regulations was consultative consistent with the Land Rights Act.
Cllr. Barbu said the language in the regulations was very much simplified for people to understand it.
He expressed the hope that following the validation, there will be a political and governance will of the state leaders.
Cllr. Barbu however called on President George Weah to ensure that the regulation is respected by all.
He said there were too many research made towards drafting of the regulation and called on every Liberian to be a part of the process of land management and administration.
The consultation meeting focused on six thematic areas, namely; Conduct of Confirmatory Surveys to Identify, Inventory, Map, Probate and Register the Community Land Claims of Communities; The Process for Communities to Set Aside as Public Land a Maximum of Ten Percent of Community Land in Each Community; Best Practices for Community Negotiations Over Concessions; Dispute Resolution and Judicial Review in Respect of Community Land; e.
The Inventory of Government Land and Harmonization of its Boundaries;and Tribal Certificate and suggestions on how to strengthen the section in the draft regulations.
At the close of the three-day consultations, the views, inputs, and comments of participants were incorporated in the final draft regulations, where appropriate, for the legal consultants to finalize the regulations, followed by submission to the WB for information purposes, and the Ministry of Sate for Presidential Affairs for gazettement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking at the end of the draft regulations consultation, Cllr. Barbu acknowledged the cutting-edge and invaluable comments and inputs of the participants, assuring that the Act and the regulations are quite responsive to current realities surrounding land ownership, use and administration and if adhered to and implemented as envisaged, the land crises in Liberia will drastically reduce.
The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) was established in 2016 by an ACT of the National Legislature. The Authority is the ONE-STOP-SHOP for all land matters.
The three-day consultation meeting brought together leaders of various customary communities with prevalence of tribal certificates, Civil Society Organizations, particularly those involved with land reform, Local and Traditional leaders, Traditional Council of Liberia, Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia, Liberia National Bar Association, Professional Associations, Concession companies in the mineral and natural resources sectors, relevant ministries, agencies and commissions (MACs) of the Government, Academic Institutions and members of the Press Union of Liberia.
The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) with support from World Bank funded Liberia Land Administration Project (LLAP) and the Sida supported Inclusive Land Administration and Management Project (ILAMP) on April 14th 2022, ended a three-day high level consultation meeting to validate and finalize the regulations for the implementation of the Land Rights Act, particularly Customary Land Rights.
