MONYOLO TOWN, River Cess – Two additional River Cess clans – Togbanyankun and Siahn – are poised to receive customary land deeds following the completion of a confirmatory survey by the Liberia Land Authority and its partners.
The clans in Central “C” and Fen River Districts now join the Teekpeh, Ziadue, Dorbor, and Gbarsaw communities in Central River Cess District, which recently completed their confirmatory survey. The survey marks the final legal step towards obtaining customary land deeds. In March, the Liberia Land Authority and the Sustainable Development Institute surveyed the four communities, ending four years of quest to secure their ancestral land rights.
James M. W. Glanyon, the chairman of the Community Land Management and Development Committee, responsible for managing community lands, said the surveys will end most land ownership issues among the various communities.
“I am happy because land issues can bring problems,” he said. “If we have our deed and the other communities get their own deeds, I believe there will be no more issues for land with other communities.”
A resident of Siahn, Oretha Gbarthea, echoed Glanyon’s optimism. She said she was also happy because, in the future, any concessional use of their forest would require their direct input: “Thank God for the NGO and the government for giving us the power over our land.”
Both Siahn and Togbanyankun long ago declared their intentions to obtain title deeds for their lands. They later formed their land governing bodies and mapped the areas they claimed, following the Land Rights Act of 2018. LANDESA supported those efforts, along with funding from U.S.-based King Philanthropist. The clans agreed on boundaries with neighboring communities by signing memoranda of understanding.
All the affected clans, the Liberia Land Authority, and civil society organizations were present during the surveys. The communities also planted pipes, trees, or concrete pillars at agreed-upon locations to mark the boundaries.
Nantarkpor Leeway, land tenure specialist at LANDESA, said although the processes leading to the survey were challenging, “the communities understood the importance of taking ownership of their costmary lands and were cooperative throughout the process.”
Siahn shares 12 boundary points with Whiesein, Dowein, Kebbeh, and Banama Clans, while Togbanyankun shares six with Gaadyeazohn and Guanaway. According to Leeway, the remaining boundary points in Togbanyankun are along the Atlantic Ocean.
He said the total land area of the two clans is 5,636.81 hectares. Siahn Clan has the larger area, with 4,840.81 hectares.
Outside of River Cess, he said LANDESA is also working in communities in Bong and two other clans in Lofa under its Customary Land Formalization project.
Victoria G. Tye, a licensed surveyor with the Liberia Land Authority, said the Swedish government, through the International Land and Forest Tenure Facility and the World Bank, had provided the survey equipment as part of a US$3.45 million project to assist communities in securing their customary deeds.
“Their deeds will be ready in a month or so,” said Jerome Vanjakollie, the national coordinator for Customary Boundary and Harmonization at the Land Authority.
Of the 33 clans in River Cess, Vanjakollie said 11 have completed a confirmatory survey so far. The Land Authority is expected to issue customary land deeds to them.
Vanjakollie said NGOs and international groups have worked across the country to ensure that the Land Authority has conducted 20 confirmatory surveys. Those have occurred in Sinoe, Nimba, Bong, Lofa, and Grand Cape Mount.
Featured photo by Eric Opa Doue
