Grand Gedeh Cancels Cocoa Agreement

October 28, 2025

Top: An overview of B’hai Jozon, a border town in the Gbarzon District in Grand Gedeh County that separates Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

By Varney Kamara

ZWEDRU – A cocoa lease agreement between Grand Gedeh County and a Burkinabe businessman has been canceled, County Attorney Wilkins Nah announced today on a local radio station.

Nah said he had observed several irregularities in the deal that needed to be corrected, including not getting local people’s consent.

“Upon learning about those things, I immediately called the superintendent and informed him that the Minister of Justice has ordered that we put a halt to everything until we can put in those things that are required,” said Nah.

“The superintendent and I agreed that we needed to correct some procedural errors in the agreement,” Nah added.

Grand Gedeh County administration recently signed the 30-year lease agreement granting Boubou Sebu the right to plant cocoa on 500 acres of land in the B’hai administrative district. The deal is valued at US$600,000.

But local people, prominent citizens and civil society have criticized the deal for lacking consultation and transparency, among others.

The announcement followed Superintendent Alex Grant’s admission to an error in the cocoa agreement with a Burkinabé businessman.

“I regret that the locals were not informed by the district’s authorities. I think is a procedural error,” Grant told a team of reporters in an interview in Zwedru City. “Once they don’t agree, and we agreed, we can both come to the negotiation table and have a conversation around it.”

Grant said he signed the deal because he believed it protected the land from illegal activities and to generate revenue for the county.

The land in question, Grant said, had been conflicted in the past, and that signing a legal agreement was a way of ending that conflict. He thought the district’s commissioner had informed local people of their consent.

The Commissioner of Gbarzon District, Kelvin Kayee, conceded.

“I signed it because I did not want to disrespect my boss,” said Kayee. “After that, I called a big meeting of community people and I apologized to them for not letting them know about it before signing it.”

Excluding the affected communities violates their right to consent, as stipulated in the Land Rights Act of 2018. The law requires consultations and the consent of communities before signing agreements regarding ancestral territories.

The deal sparked outrage, with locals calling for the return of their land.

“I don’t know anything about this agreement. Nobody told me about it, and we only heard this news on the Toe Town radio station the day before yesterday,” said Moses Taryor, Town Chief of B’hai Jozon. “I don’t agree to it today, tomorrow, and forever.”

“The bush is for us. But people from outside are telling us that they sold our bush. We are not happy about it. We will tell the government to return our land,” said Sam Nah, General Town Chief of B’hai Niko Clan.

One of several Burkinabe cocoa farms in the B’hai Administrative District, Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

On Monday, a group of Grand Gedeh citizens had petitioned the southeastern county’s legislative caucus, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Liberia Land Authority for the cancellation of the deal, recommending disciplinary action against Superintendent Grant.

“We can no longer move freely in our forest to hunt, farm, or gather food,” the petition read.

Before that, the Grand Gedeh Bar Association criticized Grant for a lack of transparency, demanding a review of the deal.

“Our goal is not to obstruct development but to ensure that every development is lawful and genuinely beneficial to the people of Grand Gedeh,” Kanio Bai Gbala, President of the association, posted on Facebook.

Liberia Forest Media Watch provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over its content.

Immigration Registers 40,000 Burkinabées Amid Cocoa Crisis

July 21, 2025

Top: A Burkinabé man displays his immigration document at the FDA regional office in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By Varney Kamara

GBOLEKEN, Grand Gedeh – The Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) reported that it has recorded over 40,000 Burkinabé cocoa farmers to monitor and legalize their status.

“It is intended to establish how many of them entered the country and where exactly they crossed,” Alex Kpakolo, Assistant Immigration Comptroller of Grand Gedeh County.

“We are taking stock of their movements and actions across the different towns, villages, districts, and communities where they are hosted. By doing this, we can easily trace them if there is a problem.”

Burkinabés began to enter Liberia from the Ivory Coast in the 2010s to plant cocoa. Last year, France 24 reported 25,000, capitalizing on Liberia’s weak monitoring, large rainforests, and higher cocoa prices. Ivory Coast has lost 90 percent of its forest to cocoa farming in the last six decades, according to that report. The same is happening in Liberia, which has lost 386,000 hectares of primary forests between 2002 and 2024, according to Global Forest Watch, which tracks annual deforestation.

Immigration records show over 1,000 Liberians host at least one Burkinabe farmer, known locally by their ethnic group, Mossi. They have settled mainly across Maryland, River Gee and Grand Gedeh.

In Grand Gedeh alone, the number of registered Burkinabes has exceeded 36,000. To ensure a smooth process, immigration authorities have established 18 registration sectors. “As a result of this process, most of the Burkinabes are now coming out of the bushes and registering. Their hosts, too, encourage them daily to come for the registration. That’s why you see we have this kind of high number,” Kpakolo said in an interview at his office in Gboleken, Gbarzon District.

WhatsApp Image 2025 07 19 at 031946 2 — A Burkinabé man sets a tree ablaze in a forest in Grand Gedeh County. Picture credit: Forestry Development Authority

After the registration, the Burkinabes would be vetted and issued resident permits, in line with the Alien and Nationality Law of Liberia. The law requires non-Liberians to obtain a permit to reside in Liberia. ECOWAS citizens pay US$100 for the permit, with a fine or deportation for violators.

“After registration, we will review their status and find out whether they are here only temporarily or if they want to stay and work here permanently. After this process, LIS will decide to start issuing resident permits,” Kpakolo said.

Rising tension

Labor authorities are watching the process. Robson Bah, Labour Commissioner of Grand Gedeh, said the ministry intended to formalize contracts between locals and their West African partners.

“We have noticed that people who don’t have titled deeds are cutting boundaries and giving out land to Burkinabés. And, as a result of this, you have confusion all over the place,” said Robson Bah, Labour Commissioner of Grand Gedeh.

“Today, everything appears to be going well between the Burkinabes and their Liberian hosts, but when money starts to come and things start to happen, they may not be peaceful.”

Across the southeastern region, cocoa farming is splitting families and communities, according to court records. The Zwedru City Magisterial Court has recorded at least 10 similar cases. Last week, 31 accused of illegally encroaching on concessions to plant cocoa were jailed at the Zwedru Correction Palace.

This was a Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists (CoFEJ) production.

31 Burkinabés Jailed for Alleged Forest Invasion

July 19, 2025

Top: An FDA vehicle transports Burkinabés suspected of criminal trespassing in a community forest and a logging concession to the Zwedru Correction Palace. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

By Varney Kamara

ZWEDRU – Thirty-one Burkinabé cocoa farmers were jailed for allegedly clearing forestry concessions in Grand Gedeh County to plant cocoa.

The men, with ages ranging from teenagers to the 50s, were rounded up by rangers of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) during a routine patrol. They were recently arrested at two forestry contract areas.

“The Burkinabés are damaging these places with cocoa farming. We met them brushing in the park. We also caught some of them cutting demarcation in the FMCs,” Yei Neagor, FDA’s head for that region, told The DayLight at the Zwedru City Magisterial Court. Pictures shared by the FDA show the man setting up camps and setting trees ablaze.

“I can tell you that the situation is alarming. They are destroying the forest. It is on a massive scale,” added Neagor.

The suspects were arrested in the Gbarzon District at two locations. Fifteen were picked up at Marbo 1 Community Forest and 16 at a dormant concession known as Forest Management Contract Area K or FMC ‘K’.

They had been arraigned at the FDA’s regional office in Zwedru and later taken to the police station before being forwarded to court. They have been charged with criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, court documents show. They were jailed at the Zwedru Correction Palace after failing to post bail.

‘The land belongs to us’

In an interview with The DayLight, the suspects admitted to the charges but blamed their Liberian hosts for the situation.

“We fell into this problem because our host did not show us the actual demarcation of the boundary,” said Soré Sayouba, a spokesman for the Burkinabés.

Sayouba, 57, said he and the other men crossed the Ivorian border into Grand Gedeh through local people or hosts. Immigration records list Bamba Paye, a Gbarzon resident, as one of their hosts.

Paye denies any wrongdoing, saying his family farmed on the controversial land for decades. “I don’t understand why they arrested my Burkinabé workers because my parents planted cocoa and orange way back on this land. In our traditional setting, life crops represent inheritance,” Paye said via phone.

“The land belongs to us.”

The suspects have been freed on bond and are expected to reappear in court on Tuesday.

Cocoa court cases

The case adds to several lawsuits involving Burkinabés, the FDA and individuals in Grand Gedeh, regarding cocoa cultivation.

Burkinabés began flocking into Liberia in the 2010s, after a cross-border agreement between then-President Sirleaf and Ivoirian leader Alhassan Ouattara, according to immigration authorities.

IMG 20250711 170442 413 — Alleged Burkinabés forest invasion suspects head for the Zwedru Correction Palace. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

“From that time, we noticed that people started coming in. But they were not coming as agriculturists. Now, as we speak, they are all along the Cavalla belt,” said Alex Kpakolo, Grand Gedeh’s Assistant Comptroller of Immigration.

Last year, France 24 reported 25,000, capitalizing on Liberia’s weak law enforcement, large rainforests and high cocoa prices.

Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, has lost 90 percent of its forest to “brown gold” farming in the last six decades, the report said.

This trend continues in Liberia, which lost 386,000 hectares of primary forests between 2002 and 2024, according to Global Forest Watch.

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

Tag: Cocoa

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