After Failing Locals in Large Concessions, Italian Tycoon Lets Community Forests Down

February 26, 2022

Top: International Consultant Capital’s camp in Gbi-Doru District, Nimba County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By James Harding Giahyue

GBI-DORU DISTRICT and COMPOUND NUMBER TWO – When International Consultant Capital (ICC) stopped its logging operations in Nimba County in 2019, it was already owing villagers over US$55,000 having used their land and felled their timbers, leaving behind broken development promises and an estimated 7,000 logs, according to locals.

ICC and the Gbi-Doru Administrative District had signed the five-year social agreement in 2010 as part of forest management contract area K—commonly called FMC-K Nimba in the forestry sector—covering 127,842 hectares. FMC-K is the largest logging concession in Liberia, extending to River Cess and Grand Gedeh and totaling 266,910 hectares of woodlands.

The same year ICC parked off from Gbi-Doru, African Wood & Lumber Company (AWL)—now owned by Italian businessman Cesare Colombo, ICC’s CEO—signed logging deals with two community forests. In January, Colombo secured the agreement with Gbarsaw & Dorbor for 21,230 hectares of forest in Norwien District, River Cess County for five years. Later in July, he concluded the deal with Marblee & Karblee between Compound Number One and Two, Grand Bassa, giving him logging rights in its 24,355-hectare woodland for the same duration. AWL had been established in 2015 by a Liberian businessman called Krangar Logan and Colombo became its sole shareholder as of March last year, the company’s article of incorporation shows.

Like ICC in Gbi-Doru, AWL’s agreements with Gbarsaw & Dorbor and Marblee & Karblee have been marred by broken promises and indebtedness to the communities over land and log-harvesting fees. With no clauses in the deals for things like schools and clinics commonplace in logging contracts, both communities solely rely on harvesting fees to conduct development projects such as roads, schools and clinics.

AWL owes Gbarsaw & Dorbor US$5,000 for human resource development, and US$37,786 for land rental fees, the leadership of the community forest told The DayLight.

Colombo blames his company’s indebtedness to that community on illegal chainsaw milling. Also called pit-saw milling in the Liberian logging industry, chainsaw milling involved the use of chainsaws to rip logs into planks. The practice, which is currently unregulated, has increasingly become a nuisance across the forestry sector.

The situation in Marblee & karblee is even worse. The company owes the community US$39,000 for the use of its forestland, and US$6,000 for scholarships and has failed to pave dirt roads in that area in the last three years, according to locals. The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) did not grant our request for AWL’s record of payments and production, though the National Forestry Reform Law guarantees public access to such information. However, it harvested 6,136.59 cubic meters of logs from November 2020 to June last year, records of the company’s production The DayLight obtained show. That means the company owes the villagers US$,38,353 representing harvesting and development fees in line with their agreement.

“We are coming to have [a] meeting to write the company. If they don’t want the forest again, let them give it back to us,” says Arthur Bayogar, a community forest leader.

Colombo again denies any wrongdoing, adding that the company had also not paid the Marblee & Karblee the full amount due to illegal chainsaw-milling activities. He demands the community pays his company for every log the pit-sawyers harvested.

“The outstanding payment [is] due to the pit-sawing activity that is not allowed in the concession,” Colombo tells The DayLight in an emailed interview. “And for each log felled, compensation to the company [needs] to be calculated.”

‘Taking advantage’

Forest governance campaigners say Colombo’s move from FMC- K Nimba to community forests in River Cess and Grand Bassa is part of a new trend across the forestry sector. The last five years have seen companies and individuals associated with large logging agreements turn to community forests.

Under Liberian laws and regulations, companies enter logging concessions with the government but sign community forest deals directly with villagers. A guiding principle of forestry reform in Liberia, the scheme was meant to ensure rural towns and villages benefit from forest resources denied them for generations. But that has not worked for many communities, with companies being indebted to locals rife, some for over a decade.

Timbers harvested by International Consultant Capital (ICC) in 2019 are seen left by a roadside in Gbi-Doru Administrative District, Nimba County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Andrew Zelemen, a campaigner with the National Union of Community Forest Development Committee (NUCFDC), says Colombo and other businesspeople are exploiting the weakness of communities.

“My understanding is that some of these companies are taking advantage of the limited capacity of community members who are awarding these concessions to them,” Zelemen, whose group advocates for communities affected by large-scale concessions, tells me in a mobile phone conversation from Lofa. He says Colombo needs to explain why he left FMC-K for Gbarsaw & Dorbor and Marblee & karblee.

“Something is wrong somewhere and something is happening, and these companies need to tell us what they are doing the Liberian people’s forests,” he adds.

Bonathan Walaka, the secretary of the National Union of Community Forest Management Body (NUCFMB), agrees with Zelemen and says he understands Colombo’s shift to community forests.

“The reason is just simple,” Walaka says. “The land rental fees companies pay the government in FMCs are more than what they pay the government in community forests.” He argues Colombo saves more money from failing to pay Marblee & Karblee, for instance, than refusing to pay Gbi-Doru. By lay, companies pay communities 30 percent and the government 70 percent in land rental fees for large concessions such as FMC-K and 55 and 45 percent in the same order for community forests. By law, land rental fees are the product of US$1.25 and the size of hectares of a given forest.

“The government has the power to have the companies pay its share of land rental fees but the communities don’t,” Walaka says.

Walaka is referencing the law correctly. The FDA is not a party in community forest agreements but approves them as the government institution that oversees the forestry sector. The laws and regulations governing the sector are largely communities-centered.

However, in the cases of Gbarsaw & Dorbor and Marblee & Karblee, the FDA did not enforce those laws. For instance, despite debt to both communities, the FDA sanctioned three shipments of a combined 7,286.24 cubic meters of timbers produced by AWL between February and April last year, according to the record of the exports we got. That is a violation of the Ten Core Regulations, which call for firms to be clear of all forest-related dues before export. It is even sufficient ground for the FDA to terminate AWL’s agreement per the National Forestry Reform Law.

No law or regulation bars an individual associated with a company that has outstanding payments from obtaining a logging contract. But Jonathan Yiah, the lead forestry campaigner at the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), thinks FDA did not exercise its oversight in Colombo’s community forest deals. He says it should have disapproved the Italian businessman’s deal with Gbarsaw & Dorbor and Marblee & Karblee over his connection to ICC and FMC-K.

“FDA allowing this to happen aids companies to be in huge arrears with communities,” Yiah says in an emailed interview. “FDA needs to ensure proper due diligence, it has responsibility for, is conducted.

“Once due diligence is done on each of the companies currently operating, the problem with logging operations in community forest may be reduced,” he adds.

Colombo refutes those criticisms, counterarguing that he invested millions in the communities to “create a cordial and friendly relationship” with locals.

“We are always committed to our obligation, and we never undermine the intent of the forestry reform in Liberia,” Colombo says, despite evidence showing the opposite.

The FDA did not grant our request for an interview on the matter. The DayLight wrote Deputy Managing Director Joseph Tally for the interview last month but did not get a reply up to press time.

This story is a part of The DayLight’s Forest Accountability and Transparency Reporting Series.

Bea Mountain Truck Carrying Chemical Crashes in Cape Mount

February 21, 2022

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Top: A consignment of ammonium nitrate is seen scattered from the accident spot in Small Bomi, Sinje, Grand Cape Mount County. Picture credit: Philip Zodua

By Varney Karmara

SINJE, Cape Mount – A Bea Mountain truck carrying 26 metric tons of ammonium nitrate, which has caused some of the deadliest explosions in human history, crashed by a roadside in Sinje, Grand Cape Mount County in the early hours of last Saturday.

“Early Saturday morning, between 6 am [and] 7 am, we heard a loud sound as if a bomb had exploded. The sound was fearful, and everyone was warned to stay away from the chemicals which felt from the white truck,” said Mohammed Kawah, a resident of Small Bomi, where the accident occurred.

“The sound was so heavy to the extent that we started pushing everyone away from the truck,” Kawah added.

The two men were injured in the accident, eyewitnesses told The DayLight. Raymond S, the driver of the vehicle, was critically wounded and is receiving treatment at the St. Timothy Hospital in Robertsport, the townspeople said. Rescuers had to use another Bea Mountain vehicle to pull one of the car’s doors open to get the trapped, wounded driver out of the damaged truck.

The truck, marked “TR-007,” was transporting the chemicals from Buchanan, Grand Bassa County to Bea Mountain’s industrial goldmine in Kinjor, Garwula District. Minutes after the accident, the company dispatched a team of workers from its chemical department, who teamed up with experts from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clear the scene of the accident. The team revisited the site once more after this reporter arrived there.

“They came and sprinkled water to the area where the chemical wasted on the ground and warned us not to go around there,” Boimah Kiadii, Town Chief of Small Bomi, told this reporter. “They also advised us not to make any fire around there.

“They told us that the chemical is not bad, but they also warned us not to go close to it, and this made us worry about our safety,” Kiadii said, adding that Bea Mountain distributed 10 bags of kg rice among villagers.

Bea Mountain employees at the site where one of the company’s trucks carrying 24 metric tons of ammonium nitrate crashed on Saturday in Sinje, Grand Cape Mount County. Picture credit: Philip Zodua

The ammonium nitrate was part of a 5,000-metric-ton consignment of the chemical whose shipment into the country the government approved earlier this year, official records show. The injured driver was trained in the handling of dangerous substances, the fatal transport approved and the vehicle licensed by the EPA in line with environmental regulations and guidelines.

Ammonium nitrate is a white sparkling solid chemical that consists of ions of ammonium and nitrate and is used to produce high yield explosives and as a fertilizer. When coming in contact with direct heat, extreme sunray, or fire, ammonium nitrate can be very dangerous. It poses health, safety, and environmental risks. It can cause harm when swallowed, lead to eye irritation, produce toxic gas when mixed with acid, intensify the fire, and ignite an explosion when heated under confinement.

This is the second time Bea Mountain, owned by Turkish billionaire Nazif Günal, is appearing in the news for its controversial handling of ammonium nitrate. In 2020, the company imported 4,000 metric tons of the chemical without the approval of the EPA. That importation breached the EPA’s requirements for the shipment of chemical substances. The law prescribes a 20-year prison term, a fine of US$50,000 for a violator, or both. It is not clear whether Bea Mountain was fined at the time.

In August last year, residents of Kinjor saw their complaint against European financiers of Bea Mountain’s New Liberty Goldmine accepted over allegations of water pollution and failure to live up to the agreement it has with affected communities. The company signed a 25-year mineral development agreement with the government of Liberia in 2001 for the extraction of gold in the Garwula and Gola Konneh districts. In 2013, the deal was extended by another 25 years, taking it to 2038.

Efforts to reach Bea Mountain on the matter also did not materialize, as we were unable to get the exact location of the company’s headquarters in Monrovia and on Bushrod Island.

The EPA said in a news conference on Tuesday no residual of the chemical remained at the site of the crash. “No water sources were observed within [a] 10-meter radius of the area and the incident is unlikely to cause any adverse environmental or health risk to the residents of the Small Bomi community,” said Prof. Wilson Tarpeh, the executive director of the agency.

Ammonium nitrate explosions have led to an array of disasters across the world, among them the Beirut Explosion of 2020 that killed 200 people, the 1921 Oppau explosion in which 500-600 people died, the 1947 Texas City disaster that killed 583 people, the 2015 Tianjin Explosions that killed 173 people.

Despite the danger it poses, some countries still use the substance, including the United States. Countries in Eastern and Western Europe are the largest consumers of the commodity, consuming 53 percent in 2019, according to British information provider IHS Markit. Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Pakistan, and Turkey are among the countries that have banned the use of ammonia nitrate both as a fertilizer and explosive.

Liberia has not banned ammonium nitrates, with Bea Mountain using the chemical for its operations, contributing US$9,583,127 to the national budget or 12 percent of the revenue generated by the country’s extractive sector in the 2018/2019 fiscal year, according to the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Imitative (LEITI).

The Ammonium nitrate spilled in a private yard in Small Bomi in Sinje, Grand Cape Mount County. Picture credit: Philip Zodua

Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI) funded this story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over its content.

Benefit Board Elects New Leaders

February 18, 2022

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Top: New leaders of the National Benefit Sharing Trust Board in group photo following its elections on Thursday. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

By Varney Kamara

MONROVIA – Representatives of the group responsible to manage communities’ forest benefits have elected a new corps of officials for the next three years.

The National Benefit Sharing Trust Board (NBSTB) on Thursday elected Nora Bowier, chairman; Solomon Peters co-chair, Isaac Kipi, secretary; and Witherspoon Emmanuel, treasurer.

Bowier retained her position as chair of the board, while Peters, Kipi and Emmanuel replaced Mathew Walley, Joseph Koon, and Eliza Kronyan served as co-chair, secretary, and treasurer, respectively. They are expected to oversee the spending of payments that logging companies pay to communities as land rental fees. The fund is intended to carry on development across towns and villages affected by logging operations licensed by the Forestry Development Authority (FDA).

“I am even more energized to work harder in serving communities,” said Bowier, who is a campaigner at the Sustainable Development Institute, said after her victory on Thursday. “This shows that we have been working and people have seen our effort. Building on our collective efforts, we need to push harder and ensure that communities are better served.”

With 13 members from civil society, logging-affected communities, traditional leaders, private sector and the government, watchdog that manages the communities’ portions of land rental fees companies pay to the government. The National Forestry Reform Law of Liberia gives 30 percent of all land rental fees (the product of US$1.25 and the size of forests in hectares) to communities for development purposes. The board also ensures government complies with legal payment terms.

Last year, it joined a protest that pushed the government to pay communities US$200,000. Within the last three years, it approved 34 projects across 11 counties and organized the first National Forest Forum meant to improve forest governance and management. The government owes communities US$5.5million in benefits, according to a report by Forest Trends last year. The board is still pushing the government for the payment.

“Moving forward, we are going to strengthen community policies and programs,” Bowier said. “We need to hit the ground running. We need to press the government to make payments. We also need to ensure that logging companies are fulfilling their part of the commitment to communities.”

Women Urged to Participate in Community Forest Matters Ahead of Elections

February 18, 2022

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Top: Women protest for land rental fees in Monrovia. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Emmanuel Sherman

MONROVIA – Women have been called upon to take up their legal space in community forest leaderships ahead of their elections this year.

Letla Mosenene, team leader of Multi-stakeholder forest Governance and Accountability Programme (MFGAP) urged women to consider their role in forest management key, as they are mentors of their families and are primary users of forest resources.

“Nobody’s going to give them space; they have to take it themselves,” Mosenene said as MFGAP turned over a vehicle to the National Union of Community Forests Development Committee (NUCFDC). The NUCFDC comprises all 11 CFDCs, established by law to represent the interest of communities in the governance of over a million hectares of forestland across the country.

Women are guaranteed at least a seat on community forest development committees across the country under the National Forestry Reform Law of Liberia. However, that has not been the reality. Of the 230 members of the leaderships of communities affected logging permits awarded by the government, just 52 or 23 percent are women, according to the National Union for Community Forest Development Committee (NUCFDC). Only one community leadership is headed by a woman, Ruth Milton. Just two other women Betty Tarwoe and Tupee Zolue are co-chairpersons of their respective leaderships, while four communities do not have a woman in their leadership.

“We are aware that there will be lots of elections taking place this year and instead of them hiring vehicles to participate they have their vehicle now,” Mosenene said as she handed the keys of the Toyota Hilux pickup to the NUCFDC at a short ceremony at her Sinkor office.

Letla Mosenene, team leader of the Mult-stakeholder Forest Governance and Accountability Programme hands over a Toyota Hilux pickup Vincent Doe, president of the National Union of Community Forest Development Committee. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

“All they need to do is to service it correctly, put in gasoline and take off to supervise the elections,” she added.

Vincent Doe, president of the NUCFDC said the gesture was timely and will ease the transportation difficulty of the union. “We have been facing a lot of difficulties in terms of transportation to meet other affected communities. Today, that we have gotten a raw [vehicle] from our partner that is always there, is a plus for us,” Doe said.

The vehicle was donated to the NUCFDC by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) UKaid, through MFGAP, its forest-governance implementing partner in Liberia.

Wardens Set Up Tools To Gather Info on Parks

February 15, 2022

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Top: A village in Kongbor, adjacent to the Gola National Park. The DayLight/Rudolph Gborkeh

By Varney Kamara

TUBMANBURG, Bomi County – Park managers in Gbarpolu and Lofa Counties have created a system to store information that will help them effectively manage the Gola National Park and the Foya Proposed Protected Area.

The Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET) would enable park managers to gather information across the two forests that relate to biodiversity, natural resources, and habitats. It will also assist rangers to track the level of involvement of the government and communities in the parks’ management.

“This will include assessment of weaknesses, strengths, challenges, and prospects,” said Nzigiyimpa Léonidas, an IMET trainer at the close of training for the wardens in Tubmanburg, Bomi County recently. “Not only that, it is going to put decision-makers in the position to make the right decisions as far as forest governance is concerned.”

“We expect this baseline training to enhance the capacity of managers for effective monitoring and evaluation of the different activities in the Gola National Park,” said Michael Tarie, program manager of the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL), which organized the IMET event.

IMET was introduced in 2002 and since recommended by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Liberia joined more than 20 countries across the world in November last year to have introduced the system in its quest to protect its forests. The country has made a commitment to conserve 30 percent of its forest, some 1.5 million hectares.

Since its introduction, members of the IMET coaching team have closely worked with conservation groups to manage the Gola Park and other protected areas across Liberia. The creation of the information baseline serves as a catalyst for continued donor support to conservation activities across the country, organizers of the training say.

Gola National Park and Foya Proposed Protected Area are biodiversity hotspots.

Situated in northwest Liberia, and created by law in September 2016, the 88,000-hectare forestland is home to endemic and endangered plant and animal species, including pygmy hippopotamus, African forest elephant and Diana monkeys. It provides a habitat for thousands of villagers, according to a UNESCO World Heritage report.

Located in northwestern Liberia, Foya Proposed Protected Area is the largest of the proposed protected areas and is believed to be several thousand hectares. It consists of wet green forests.

Bong Officials Mismanaged US$2.2M, Report Reveals

February 14, 2022

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Top: One of the controversial projects highlighted in the report. Photo Credit: The Bong Accountability Project

By Varney Kamara

MONROVIA – Officials of Bong County misappropriated over US$2 million of the county’s social development funds (CSDF) between 2018 and 2020, a new report has found.

The report unearthed the project management committee (PMC) awarded contracts without competitive bidding, allotment of funds to contractors without proper documentation, huge financial discrepancies, overstated expenses, granting of multiple projects to individual companies, lack of project implementation, poor supervision and monitoring, among other violations.

It recommends an investigation of financial discrepancies to be led by anti-graft institutions and the office of Bong County Attorney, and the freezing of the County’s development accounts.

“We are calling on President George Weah and the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission to consider bringing those mentioned in the report to justice,” said Moses Bailey, project coordinator for the three CSOs that produced the report. “We want those recommendations taken seriously and implemented by the relevant authorities. Implementing these recommendations will open a positive chapter in the management of public funds in Bong and across Liberia.”

The Bong Accountability Project report was produced by the Media and Civic Education Rural Liberia (MACE-Rural Liberia), Foundation for International Dignity (FIND), and the Development Education Leadership Training in Action Human Rights Foundation (DELTA-HRF), civil society organizations working to promote accountability and development. Funding for the report was provided by ForumCiv, a Swedish nongovernmental organization working with 170 civil society and human rights organizations across the world.

CSDF is a combination of funds from the National Budget and fees paid by concession companies meant to develop counties where natural resources like iron ore, gold, diamond, are being extracted. In March 2020, the Liberian House of Representatives amended the Public Financial Management Act, which calls for greater accountability and transparency in the administering of the CSDF. Penalties range from administrative to criminal.

Bong County receives US$200,000 from the Government of Liberia, US$1.75million from China Union, US$500,000 from ArcelorMittal and US$12,000 from MNG Gold.

Another of the controversial projects. Photo Credit: The Bong Accountability Project

A total of 30 construction contracts were awarded to 11 companies across Bong County’s seven districts, with a focus on health, education, and agriculture. Some companies received six different contacts, the investigation uncovered. PMC JAEMCO Construction received US$45,000 to implement five projects, including construction of Commissioner’s residence in Kokoya, Behwe Elementary, Malonkai Elementary School, a clinic in Ula Town, and the Superintendent Compound in Gbarnga. However, only US$15,000 of the amount was expended, according to records of the payment. The PMC financial report failed to provide details on payment.

Between January 2019 and February 2021, PMC said it transferred US$41,295 and LD288, 000 as a three-month honorarium for late County Engineer Marcus Berrian but the deceased’s widow Etta Berrian informed investigators that she only received US$6,900 and the full Liberian Dollar payment.

In total, US$2,297,759.08 was apportioned for the different projects. Of this amount, US$1,537,379 was expended on new development projects without contract-based information, the report said.

The PMC awarded companies up to six projects without a competitive bidding process, a contravention of the Code of Conduct Act, which calls for the protection of the integrity of public service and guides against conflict of interest by public officials. Multiple granting of contracts to individual companies without a competitive also violates the Public Procurement and Concession Commission Act of 2006, which guarantees efficient use of public funds. The amended PPCC regulation of 2010 mandates companies to submit original and updated versions of the approved procurement plan, bidding documents, minutes of bid opening, memo constituting evaluation panel, evaluation report, minutes of the meeting of procurement committee, draft contract, among other requirements. Companies that were granted contracts did not provide those documents, the report said.

It blamed poor monitoring and implementation of projects for the multiple awarding of contracts and criticized Bong County legislators for not providing oversight of the fund as required by law. Bong County Caucus Chairperson Moima Briggs Mensah denied that criticism, promising to make an official response to the groups’ findings at a later date.

The report urged Bong citizens to petition the Legislature for the restitution of the allegedly squandered funds. It called on citizens of the county to file a petition against companies and the PMC and the restitution of funds that have not been accounted for.

Other recommendations include the freezing of Bong County’s development accounts pending the implementation of the Local Government Act and a committee for project appraisal. “More than US$3 million could be lost to corruption and mismanagement if the government fails to reform the governance of development funds contributed by mining companies,” it warned.

Stephen Mulbah, PMC Chairman, denied the civil society investigators contacted the committee, though sections of the report showed that Mulbah was contacted but declined to comment at the time. “They are telling lies against us,” he told The DayLight in a mobile phone interview. “This is not a report to trust.”

Villagers Learn to Collect Data to Manage Forest

February 11, 2022

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Top: Trainers and trainees of the Tonglay Community Forest Inventory training. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

By Varney Kamara

BOPOLU, Gbarpolu County – Two dozen villagers in Gbarpolu have started training on the collection of information on how they will manage their community forest.

Leaders of the Tonglay Community Forest in the Kongba District of Gbarpolu County on Tuesday began gathering data on the soil, timbers and landscape, and animals in their 19,000-hectare woodland. After the weeklong, event they would go on to take stock in the forest, which will inform their decision on how to manage the forest.

“This thing will make us to learn how to properly look at our forest,” said McGill Wulleh, Paramount Chief of Tonglay Clan. “It will help us to reduce illicit activities in our bush.”

One of 47 authorized forest communities in Liberia, Tonglay is a major corridor between Gola National Park in Liberia and Sierra Leone, home to different endemic and endangered plant and animal species. The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) approved Tonglay’s request after completing legal requirements provided in the Community Rights Law of 2009 with Respect to Forest Lands.

“This will enhance the effective management and protection of the community forest,” James Mulbah of the Society for the Conservation of Nature Liberia (SCNL), a nongovernmental organization that guided the community obtain community forest status, and is conducting the training.

“The outcome of this data collection process will determine whether or not the community will engage in legal commercial activities such as logging, mining, or even ecotourism business,” Mulbah added. “We expect the capacity of community members to be fully developed to ensure that they are best placed to monitor activities across their vast forestland.”

The initiative is funded by the European Union under the European Union Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) program.

Land Authority Issuing Community Deeds Without Regulations, Report Finds

February 4, 2022

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Top: A community in the Yarmein Clan in Nimba County the Land Authority has issued a deed, according to a new report. The DayLight/William Harmon

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – Before the Land Rights Act of 2018, chiefs and elders across Liberia issued thousands of tribal certificates to individuals as a kind of title to lands in towns and villages. But in many cases, the chiefs did not consult other members of the communities, among other things, making tribal certificates arguably the most troublesome subject in Liberia’s land reform process.

To address this problem, the law requires tribal certificates to be legally processed into deeds with the involvement of full membership of communities—men, women and the youth—that own the lands for which the documents were issued. The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) is yet to formulate regulations for the implementation of the law, including the vetting of all tribal certificates.

But the LLA has issued tribal 11 deeds to individuals and a community in Bomi and Nimba from tribal certificates in the absence of regulations, a new report by a conglomerate of civil society organizations has found.

In their report late last month, the Civil Society Land Reform Working Group (CSO-LRWG) revealed that the Land Authority has issued 10 deeds to people in the Yarmein Clan of Nimba from tribal certificates and one each to Lowah Town in the Klay District of Bomi County.

Several provisions of the law call for the Land Authority to formulate regulations for the “effective implementation of the act.” The law reads in its 12^th article, “The right to the ownership and use of Land is not absolute but is subject to reasonable regulations.” The LLA said last year it had begun the formulation of the regulations but has not completed it, more than three years after the passage of the law.

“The Land Authority is violating the very law it was created solely to implement,” said Daniel Krakue of Social Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development (SESDev), one of the organizations that published that report.

The report urged the LLA to nullify all deeds it has issued from tribal certificates, halt the processing of the documents until it completes the regulations, and restitute fees communities and individuals have paid. It called for an inquest into fees being charged for customary-land surveys as well as the prosecution of culprits.

The report comes at a time when 170 communities are awaiting the LLA to conduct its confirmatory survey to get their ancestral land deed.

The LLA said it would respond to the report at a later date.

In its investigation, CSO-LRWG said it interviewed townspeople of the two communities in the counties, held workshops for 47 people in two weeks in December last year. Other than the relevant tribal certificates, it said it reviewed several documents related to the communities, such as deeds, receipts and letters. Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), an international nongovernmental organization that focuses on land tenure and forestry, funded the report. CSO-LRWG comprises 33 local groups, which campaigned for the passage of the historic law, hailed across the world for its recognition of ancestral land rights.

Tribal Certificate Amid Moratorium

Having processed without any existent regulations, the tribal certificate from which Lowah’s deed was granted was issued to the community in 2019 amid a moratorium on the sales of all public lands across the country, the report said. The deed, seen by The DayLight, was signed in October last year by Atty. Adams Manobah, chairman of the Land Authority, covering 1,777.1 acres of land in the Mannah Clan. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf issued the moratorium in 2013 as land crises spiraled out of control, and the ban has not been lifted.

Varney Jallah, land administrator of Bomi County signed a tribal certificate issued to Lowah Town in 2019 amid a moratorium on the sale of public land. Photo credit: CSO Land Reform Working Group

‘“The validity of tribal certificates shall be determined by a rigid validation process involving the community conducted by the Liberia Land Authority,”’ the report said, quoting a provision of the Land Rights Act. “It reminds unclear on what condition the Liberia Land Authority issued a customary statutory deed to Lowah Town.”

Varney Jallah, the land administrator of Bomi County, who signed Lowah’s controversial tribal certificate, admitted to that but said it was not official, and that he had signed the document under pressure from the townspeople.

“Our people get problem. When they came for the tribal certificate, we told them that ‘Even if you have a tribal certificate, it will just be for formality,” Jallah told The DayLight in a mobile phone interview on Thursday. “Even if we give you this, it is not by law. I was clear with them but they said no.

“If you are working in a community, especially traditional communities, you will explain some things, you will go up and come down, they will say X, Y, Z,” Jallah said, adding that the Lowah’s tribal certificate was nullified and still made to go through the legal steps provided in the law before obtaining its deed. Communities first identify themselves as landowners and organize and create bylaws, demarcate their boundaries with neighboring communities.

The report also criticized the Land Authority over its “astronomical” fees for the survey. Lowah paid L$132,900 (approximately US$700 in 2019) for its survey, captured on the community’s deed. Lavekai, another town in the same district, paid US$2,000 in September for the same purpose, according to the receipt of that payment.

CSO-LRWG had in June last year disapproved the Land Authority’s proposal to charge communities an “appropriate, reasonable facilitation” instead of a fixed affordable charge to avoid corruption. The report said the Land Authority was yet to get feedback on their recommendations.

“Customary communities are paying huge prices just to secure full ownership rights to their customary land, support their livelihood and sustain their cultural heritage,” the report said.

The report said the 10 people in Nimba County who received deeds already had a lease agreement with ArcelorMittal, based on their tribal certificates, some of which The DayLight has seen.

Eddie Beanjar, Sr., the land administrator of Nimba County, denied that the deeds had been issued, clarifying that the individuals were at the verge of getting legal claims to their respective plots of land.

Monthly Archives: February 2022

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