GANTA, Nimba – Circuit Court Judge Emery Paye has been accused of bias in an ongoing land dispute. Julius Sannoh, a member of the Ganta Mandingo Caucus, made the accusation via a telephone interview with the Voice of Gompa radio station.

“I will continue to make this clear to the public,” Sannoh said. “Judge Paye is taking sides with people who are not legitimate owners of land in Ganta here and giving them rights to own land that does not belong to them. He is simply doing this because they are paying him money.”

He added that the judge’s actions could create tension in Nimba because the rightful owners of the lands are the Donzos, Kromahs, and Sheriffs families.

Sannoh said the judge is doing this because most of the rightful owners died during the civil war. Also, he mentioned that those with seemingly legitimate deeds today were signed by the late president’s Barclay and Tubman in 1920s and 1960s respectively.

Paye, the circuit court judge, has declined to speak to the issue. “I am making myself prepared to address this issue at the right time,” he said.

Land dispute in Liberia has been a national problem since the 14-year civil war ended in the country. Montserrado and Nimba, the most populous counties, are said to have the highest land dispute cases. In Ganta, there are over 200 cases of land conflict currently on the docket and are still pending settlement.

Following the civil war in 2003, the question of who owns land in Ganta was an issue of grave concern for both local authorities and the national government. After a serious land conflict in late 2012 involving the Mandingo, Mano and Gio ethnic groups, the government established a land dispute committee to look into the matter.

The committee, headed by the current president of the Liberian Football Association, Musa Bility, made several recommendations to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Among those recommendations was the resettlement and relocation of individuals who were illegally occupying the lands. Also included in the proposal was a declaration of eminent domain over the most disputed area occupied by the Ganta General Market. This declaration would give the government the right to seize the property for public use after compensating owners.

The Liberian government provided US$1.5 million to have the resettlement and relocation exercise conducted. However, it appears that some of those who received the money have yet to vacate the properties.

Mayor Benjamin S. Dokpa of Ganta recently warned that if the land conflict facing Ganta and Nimba as a whole is not addressed as soon as possible, the county will be in a dangerous mess soon.

Featured photo by Eric Cleves Kristensen