Top: Picture of thriving cocoa beneath tree skeletons located in B’hai Jozon, Grand Gedeh County. DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba
By Varney Kamara and Samuel T. Jabba
B’HAI JOZON, Grand Gedeh County – Local leaders in B’hai District, Grand Gedeh County, alleged they gave Superintendent Alex Grant about 4 million CFA (US$7.111) to get a deed for their ancestral land.
Last March, a delegation from B’hai met Grant at his Zwedru office and gave him the money, according to Jammie Kinyea, spokesperson of B’hai Jozon Management Council. Kinyea said they wanted the Superintendent to leverage his position to assist them in obtaining the deed.
“We were very happy when Grant took over. We thought his ascendency would help to complete the survey of our land to get our deed quickly,” Jammie Kinyea, spokesman of the B’hai Jozon Land Management Council, said in an interview with The DayLight in Toe Town, Grand Gedeh.
“Grant assured us that he would try his best for us to get our deed from the Liberia Land Authority. We tried without success. This is my disappointment,” Kinyea added.
Grant admits to receiving the money, but claims he received only about half of that amount. He said the money was paid through instalments—the first payment was made two months after the meeting, and the second six months later. Like in Kinyea’s case, The DayLight could not independently verify Grant’s claim, as he provided no evidence.
Grant said the money was intended to survey the land and resolve a conflict over it, and not for a deed. The dispute arose between two Burkinabees who were competing to plant cocoa on the land, Grant said.
“I personally suggested to them that to resolve this issue, we need to survey to know who owns what and who doesn’t. This was my way of trying to end the dispute,” Grant said. “That’s how they gave the money for the survey, and the surveyor went in there and did the survey.”
Grant went on to obtain a deed for the land. However, the deed was not in B’hai Jozon’s name as Kinyea and the townspeople had bargained for. Instead, the deed to the farmland was issued to the Grand Gedeh County local government. It was part of a 30-year lease agreement with Boubou Sebu, a Burkinabé businessman.
Barely a week after securing the deed, the Land Authority revoked it over irregularities.
Likewise, county authorities terminated their lease agreement following media reports that exposed violations and inconsistencies. A community acquires a customary deed through a legal process under the Land Rights Act. There is no evidence that B’hai has completed any of those steps.
Townsfolk in B’hai said they only learned that the lease agreement was intended for their land after it was cancelled.
Jimmy Kinyea and the townspeople of B’hai Jozon in Grand Gedeh County gave Superintendent Alex Grant money to help them get a customary deed. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba
Grant said the community undermined his efforts to acquire a deed apart from the one that was revoked. He said a draft of the document had been produced, but not been authorized by the Land Authority. Grant did not present a copy of the alleged draft deed, even though he promised to make it available to The DayLight.
Kinyea shrugged off Grant’s comments.
“If he says so, then that’s fine,” Kinyea said. “But all I want to say is that we are happy that the 500 acres that were taken away from us through the lease agreement have been returned.”
DayLight reporters observed thousands of hectares of abandoned cocoa farms on the disputed land. Most of the harvested cocoa is transported to Toe Town. In contrast, others are being shipped across the border town of Barcubley, La Côte d’Ivoire, according to Sonconpocodgou Yologo, spokesman of the Burkinabe workers in Pierre’s Village-1.
Top: A drone shot of Pierre Village-1, the largest settlement of Burkinabe migrants in Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba
By Varney Kamara and Samuel T. Jabba
FISH TOWN – In late September, Deppu Kobera, an Ivoirian teenager working on a cocoa farm, was found dead near a forest in River Gee County.
Fifteen-year-old Kobera had gone missing while farming cocoa in the Kwawe Gee Forest, Glorra District, according to the River Gee Police Detachment. His body was discovered three days later in a nearby forest, beheaded and with bullet wounds.
The River Gee case highlights growing conflicts linked to Burkinabe mass migration to Liberia. Known by their tribal name “Mossi,” these Burkinabés travel deep into towns and villages in search of cocoa farmlands. However, this search has been characterized by deaths, divisions, and deforestation. Over the past three years, dozens of disputes involving Burkinabe cocoa farmers have been reported in southeastern Liberia, according to court records.
“I believe their influx will create some maximum-security threat in the country in the future,” said Uriah Zokruah, Deputy Commander of the Grand Gedeh Police Detachment. His detachment has forwarded several cases involving Burkinabés to court.
“We have had about 10 of these cases. In some instances, fines are imposed,” said Shad Dweh, Senior Magistrate of the Zwedru City Magisterial Court. “It’s a complex problem that requires cooperation between the Liberia Immigration Service, the Police, the FDA, and the communities.”
Many Burkinabés cross borders into Liberia from neighboring Côte d’Ivoire by canoe, motorbike, or on foot. Once here, they enter into informal contracts, wherein they invest money and labor, while Liberian hosts and landlords contribute land. Over time, the migrants have come to outnumber their hosts across communities. They are a constant feature on highways and footpaths, having farming tools in their hands.
“We do not want trouble,” Soré Sayouba, a Burkinabe farmer in Grand Gedeh’s Gbarzon District, tells The DayLight. “We feel sad about what is happening, but when there is confusion, everyone gets blamed.”
Liberia Immigration Service recorded 55,000 Burkinabes in Liberia as of August, with 48,000 in Grand Gedeh County alone. There are 4,000 in River Gee, 2,000 in Nimba, and 426 in Maryland.
Divisions
Last March, six months after the Burkinabe teenager’s death, a land dispute between the Kiteabo and Glaro sub-tribes in River Gee County left three people dead: Eric Nyenpan, Sabastine Saylee, and Aaron Teah.
The violence began when Nyenpan of Kiteabo was allegedly shot by Glarro men while setting up tents on the Cheapoo Island, a disputed territory. In retaliation, Kiteabo tribesmen destroyed Glaro villages, killing Saylee and Teah. The clashes have strained longstanding ties between the two groups.
“It is a tragic thing. Investigation into these incidents is growing deeper to find who the killers are. We are trying to establish the motive behind these acts,” said Theophilus Togba, River Gee’s Assistant Police Commissioner.
A drone picture of a new farm shows cocoa thriving while trees decay. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba
A conflict between Tojallah and Bargblor in the Gbao and Cavalla districts of neighboring Grand Gedeh may be less chaotic. However, it is getting tense. The dispute began when Tojallah men allegedly abducted over a dozen Burkinabe farmers working for Bargblor in Karblee, a contested forestland.
Tojallah claims a local creek as their traditional boundary, while Bargblor insists it lies somewhere else. Once linked by intermarriages, the two communities—cousins and nephews—now clash bitterly over ownership.
This scenario is unfolding in Dougee Town, Gbarzon District, where relatives are embroiled in a fierce legal battle over a 1,500-acre plot of land.
In 2023, Anthony Rancy, son of a former Grand Gedeh senator, John Rancy, sued his relative, Robert Bestman, at the Zleh Town Magisterial Court, alleging that Bestman had farmed cocoa on his land. Rancy further alleged that Burkinabe migrants, acting on Bestman’s orders, invaded the property inherited from the late senator.
A drone shot of Pierre Village-1, a Burkinabe settlement in B’hai Jozon, Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba
But Bestman denies the charges, claiming the land had been illegally acquired by John Rancy Sr. decades ago, and that residents had long warned Anthony Rancy to stay away.
In the end, the Zleh Town Magisterial Court ruled in favor of Anthony Rancy, sentencing Bestman to nine months at the Zwedru Palace Correctional Center for trespassing.
The conflicts are not limited to Liberian communities and families alone. In some cases, Burkinabé migrants clash with their Liberian counterparts and even their Burkinabé compatriots.
In 2018, the Toe Town Magisterial Court heard a land dispute between Ali Kabore, a Burkinabe cocoa farmer, and Goeyeazon Belaydee, a resident. Their dispute started after Belaydee failed to honor a cocoa agreement, according to court officials. Belaydee had agreed to relinquish a portion of his ancestral land to Kabore in return for cocoa.
However, following years of production, Belaydee failed to deliver on the terms of the agreement, prompting Kabore’s court action. Belaydee admitted breaching the agreement. while the case ended in an out-of-court settlement.
Last August, police in Grand Gedeh arrested several Burkinabe migrants in the Gboryeazon forest area of B’hai District over a land dispute that left three persons injured. Two of the men were so severely injured that they had to be referred to a hospital in Côte d’Ivoire.
Deforestation
Skilled and hardworking farmers, Burkinabe migrants began arriving in Liberia from neighboring Ivory Coast in the 2010s in search of cocoa farmland. Liberia’s abundant, fertile forestlands and weak law enforcement would make their search for the so-called “brown gold rush” a reality.
Liberia holds over 40 percent of West Africa’s largest remaining rainforests, the Upper Guinea forests. However, deforestation is also an issue for Liberia. Between 2002 and 2024, it lost about 390,000 hectares of primary forest, according to the Global Forest Watch, which tracks deforestation.
A flourishing cocoa tree in B’hai Jozon Forest in Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba
Cocoa farming was a huge contributor to that. A recent report by the UK campaign group Global Witness found that from 2021 to 2024, Liberia lost a forest area of over the size of the European nation of Luxembourg.
It is easy to see how that works. Unlike the traditional Liberian method of retaining tree canopy, Burkinabe farmers fell trees to plant the crop. They would set fire to the base of trees or apply chemicals, killing them gradually. Drone footage reveals cocoa plants flourishing beneath vast tree graveyards.
These farms are everywhere, including forestry concessions, proposed and national parks, and community forests, resulting in deforestation across vast areas. Farming in parks, designated parks, concessions, and authorized community forests is illegal, according to the National Forestry Reform Law.
Last December, 21 migrants were arrested in Grand Gedeh’s Konobo Community Forest. Their arrest followed several, including 31 Burkinabe nationals, mostly teenagers, for allegedly encroaching on a community forest and a logging concession.
Back in River Gee, a jury confirmed foul play in the death of Kobera. However, no arrests have been made.
In Katebo, 21 suspects, including five Ivoirians and three Burkinabes, have been arrested in connection with the death of the three men. The defendants face multiple charges, including murder and illegal weapon possession.
Their case is before the 15th Judicial Circuit Court.
[Additional reporting by Paul Rancy in Grand Gedeh and Prince Copeland in River Gee]
Top: The headquarters of the Liberia Land Authority on Ashmun Street, Monrovia. The DayLight/Harry Browne
By James Harding Giahyue
MONROVIA – On Monday, the Liberia Land Authority justified issuing a fraudulent land deed as part of an illegal cocoa cultivation agreement between Grand Gedeh authorities and a Burkinabe businessperson. It was responding to a DayLight investigation and another by the Liberian Investigator, accusing it of wrongdoings.
The DayLight had established that Chairman Samuel Kpakio violated a moratorium on public land transactions announced by President Joseph Nymah Boakai in this year’s State of the Nation Address. The investigation determined that Kpakio had masterminded the scam and was not misled, as the Land Authority had claimed.
The Liberian Investigator, on the other hand, found evidence that the deed was illegally issued to two entities: the Grand Gedeh Local Government Reserved Farmland and Moore Agro Inc., co-owned by ex-Minister of Public Works Gyude Moore.
The Land Authority revoked the deed in question, while Grand Gedeh County authorities terminated their agreement with the Burkinabe farmer.
In a press release, the Land Authority defended Kpakio’s actions about two weeks after The DayLight investigation. It said accusations against Kpakio were “unsubstantiated,” meant to tarnish his reputation, and “derail” donors’ attention.
“The Liberia Land Authority wishes to inform its implementing partners that the moratorium issued has halted all leases and sales of public land. Thus, the development grant deed signed was in no way a violation of the moratorium,” the release read.
It restated the suspension of Paye Freeman, the Grand Gedeh Land Administrator, and David Togbasie, county land dispute officer. The Land Authority blames the two men and Grand Gedeh Superintendent Alex Grant for “misleading” Kpakio into issuing the deed. All three men declined to speak on the matter.
But an analysis of the Land Authority’s justification, a relook at the deed, laws and regulations, and interviews with people knowledgeable of the land sector, corroborated the newspapers’ publications. The evidence further exposed the institution’s attempt to scapegoat and lessen Kpakio’s role in the illegal activities.
The moratorium, which was lifted in August, did not mention the phrase “development grant deed.” However, the facts contradict the Land Authority’s defense. A development grant deed can be issued only for public or government land, under the Land Rights Act.
The 2018 law categorizes land into private and customary, government and public, whose sale and lease the Land Authority oversees.
The Liberia Land Authority issued a fraudulent deed to Grand Gedeh County authorities as part of a scam to lease out 500 acres of land to a Burkinabe businessman. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper
“Development grant deeds come from public land because the Land Authority manages public land,” said a person familiar with the entity’s workings. “Development grant deeds cannot be issued on private land, government land (normally already allocated), customary land, unless in certain cases.”
Even other government institutions could not get a deed during the time of the moratorium, according to the source. They got an attestation, one of which The DayLight has seen.
The source said the Liberia Land Authority’s board of commissioners was instituting a “stricter process” for development grant deeds to avoid such abuse. “Though not chronological, there are ongoing discussions to streamline the development deed process,” added the source.”
Two lawyers and an ex-executive of the Land Authority, who also preferred anonymity, agree with the source.
“A development grant deed is taken from the public land domain. Therefore, if a moratorium is placed on public land, that also includes a moratorium on the granting of Development Grant Deed to whoever,” the ex-executive told The DayLight.
Kpakio’s issuance of the deed to Grand Gedeh and Moore Agro Inc. undermined the very reason why the moratorium was imposed. It was meant to curb land grab, prevent conflicts and promote sustainable land-based investment. The President had said it would remain in place until the agency created regulations and guidelines to govern these things.
Moore, the ex-Public Works Minister, who owns 70 percent of Moore Agro Inc.’s shares, denies knowledge of the deed. He told The DayLight, “I have no idea what this is about. Moore Agro Inc. has nothing to do with Grand Gedeh or land.”
A person familiar with the deed processing said Moore Agro Inc. might have mistakenly copied from an old deed. The experts said the likely mistake could be the result of hasty work, a common feature of fraud or forgery.
By issuing the deed, the Land Authority violated several provisions of the Land Rights Act and Regulations. It failed to investigate whether the 500 acres of land in Grand Gedeh’s B’hai District were public or customary land. It did not consult landowning towns and villages, or get their consent, the most crucial aspect of land reform. The survey was kept secret, and there was no competitive bidding.
But those were not the only violations, though.
Kpakio signed the deed two days before the survey of the land was completed, against standard procedure. David Sluwar, who conducted the survey, was not licensed for a government or public land survey. Rather, Sluwar is licensed to survey only private plots, based on the official surveyors’ register. The Surveyors Licensing and Registration Board did not respond to a DayLight inquiry on Mr. Sluwar’s role in the scandal.
Integrity Watch Liberia provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained complete editorial independence over the story’s content.
Top: Empty nets and canoes on the banks of the St. Paul River in Caldwell. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper
By Carlucci Cooper
ST. PAUL BRIDGE – On the banks of the St. Paul River in Montserrado County, the day starts early. Paddles slicing through the water as fishermen set out before sunrise. For generations, the people along this river have survived on fishing.
But their way of life is fading away.
Where once nets came back filled with fish, now they return almost empty. Children wait on the shore for fathers whose catch can no longer feed them. The silence of empty boats has replaced the laughter that once echoed along the riverbanks.
For Roosevelt Kollie, a fisherman from St. Paul Bridge, a suburb outside Monrovia, who has fished here for over 40 years, the change is personal and painful.
“I have been fishing on this river for more than 30 years, but since companies started mining sand on the river, the fish migrated,” says Kollie. “Places where we used to catch huge quantities are now empty. The river is dying, and so is our livelihood.”
In the last decade or so, fishers like Kollie have seen their catches vanish after several companies began mining sands on the St. Paul River. This is not only changing their way of life but also drowning the fishing community in poverty.
Since 2011, the Ministry of Mines has issued 89 sand mining licenses for rivers and beaches across Liberia, including one that was issued on the 30th of October, official records show. Nineteen of those licenses were awarded for the St. Paul River, with seven currently active. Most of the licenses came after the Liberian government banned beach sand mining in 2012. The move was meant to curb coastal erosion. However, experts say it has piled pressure on rivers, hampering fishing.
Inland fishery plays a crucial role in sustaining rural life across Liberia. While ocean fisheries often take center stage, rivers, lakes, and wetlands are essential to thousands of families. A 2017 report estimated that 1,460 people engaged in inland fisheries, and the subsector produced 25 percent of the fish for rural communities.
“Fish depend on the riverbed for food. When sand is mined, it destroys their habitat and forces them to migrate into the sea,” says Dr. Eugene Shannon, former Minister of Mines and Energy. “Sometimes they return, and sometimes they’re killed by strong ocean currents. It’s not just bad for the river, it’s devastating for the people who depend on it.”
“[Sand mining] disrupts spawning and nursery grounds and leads to sedimentation, which reduces water quality and oxygen levels,” adds Ahmed Sherf, Director for Environment and Climate Change with the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA). He adds that sand mining damages mangroves, which serve as breeding and feeding grounds for various fish species.
Fishermen know this all too well.
‘’When it rains, my home leaks like outside. My children hold their books so they don’t get wet. Some days they get ready for school, but have to stay home because I can’t afford their remaining school fees,’’ says 42-year-old fisherman, Francis Wreh.
A drone shot of the St. Paul Bridge, after which the fisherfolk community bears its name. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper
“I go to the river hoping to catch fish to sustain us, but the nets come out nearly empty, only enough to feed us.”
Hopeful, 38-year-old Archie Benson rests on a pile of sand, watching trucks pull away from the riverbank. Not long ago, he would have been pushing a canoe at this hour, nets twisted at his feet. Today, those nets sit dry behind his house. Construction works have replaced fishing, and each load of sand he helps remove feels like another piece of the river slipping away.
“I grew up on this river. Fishing was all I knew. But now I dig sand for construction from the same water that fed us. I feel like I’m undermining my own history, but my family has to survive,” explains Archie Benson, a fisherman-turned-construction-worker.
Fishmongers, too, are bearing the brunt of sand mining. For 36-year-old Tete Wilson, the market no longer echoes with fishermen calling her name. All that is left are empty tubs and tables.
“We used to sit here, and fishermen would bring fish every day, but nowadays we go chasing after them and usually come back with nothing. The fishermen themselves are crying that the water is mean,” says Wilson.
Some fishmongers travel far from St. Paul Bridge just to keep their stalls stocked. Cynthia Nagbe, 29, wakes up before sunrise, boards a taxi to reach beaches in Marshall, Margibi and sometimes Robertsport, Cape Mount, in search of fish. The journey cost her more, but she has little choice if she wants to keep her customers.
A truck collecting sand on the Roberts International Airport highway in 2021. The DayLight/Harry Browne
‘Stop river sand mining’
Sand mining in the St. Paul River might have intensified 13 years ago. However, the river’s profile suggests it would remain a goldmine for the construction industry. One of Liberia’s six largest rivers, the St. Paul flows from Guinea through Liberia into the Atlantic Ocean, spanning 301 miles. A 1963 report found that the mineral is in “unlimited quantities” in the St. Paul Bridge region.
Now, mining sand from the river best explains why fish die or migrate from the area. It works by pumping a mixture of sand and water through long pipelines, using high pressure to extract sediments from the riverbed. The dredged sand is piled in a location where it is separated from the water. The water is then allowed to flow back into the river, degrading that entire ecosystem.
It gets even worse if you add rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, according to a 2017 climate risk profile of Liberia, and overfishing, a lack of canoe-landing sites and storage facilities, according to Sherf.
Sherf says NaFAA is partnering with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and other institutions to meet these challenges and improve fisheries. He recommends the setting up of no-mining zones near critical habitats, enforcing regulations, and promoting alternative construction materials.
Fisherfolk demand these actions now.
“We need the government to either stop river sand mining or enact laws that will protect our river. If we don’t take action, we’ll lose everything: our river, our fish, and our hustle,” says Pious Johnson, a fishmonger in St. Paul Bridge.
“We want the government to act. We survive by this river, so we’re appealing for help,” says Thomas Kollie, a fishmonger.
Annie William, a fishmonger, sits in Sinkor. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper
The Ministry of Mines insists that companies mining sand on the St. Paul are legal and have the right to be there.
“River sand mining is legal once you have documents that qualify you to operate with a… license, and you pay your taxes,” says Agatius Coker, Mining Inspector. “That’s why we conduct periodic compliance and enforcement with these companies to ensure environmental safety.”
Coker’s comments are largely unfounded. A 2022 General Auditing Commission report revealed that Liberia’s sand mining industry is largely unregulated, with weak oversight and illegal operations.
The report calls for “comprehensive policies, rules, or regulations that are specific to the governance of river sand mining. It found one company operated in Montserrado and Bong Counties without a license, while another abused its prospecting license. It also found that field inspectors did not regularly monitor and report on companies’ operations.
It says, “[The Ministry of Mines] should review the licenses and operations of all companies mining in the St. Paul River and assess the impact of their activities, cancelling and relocating mines that are causing greater environmental degradation.”
Integrity Watch Liberia provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained complete editorial independence over the story’s content.
Top: The Chairman of the Land Authority, Samuel Kpakio, illegally signed a deed as part of a fraudulent cocoa agreement between Grand Gedeh County and a Burkinabé businessman. Filed picture/Liberia Land Authority
By James Harding Giahyue and Varney Kamara
The Chairman of the Liberia Land Authority, Samuel Kpakio, signed a deed for a 500-acre cocoa farmland in Grand Gedeh County, violating a moratorium that President Joseph Boakai pronounced in the State of the Nation Address.
The transaction was a part of a fraudulent agreement between Grand Gedeh County and a Burkinabé cocoa farmer, which, authorities say, has been terminated
The surveyor who surveyed the land is unauthorized to conduct a government survey. Mr. Kpakio even signed the deed before the surveyor completed his work.
The survey was secretly conducted, and there was no record that the land was put out for competitive bidding as required by law
The deed was issued to an unlawful, inexistent recipient
MONROVIA – Over the weekend, the Liberia Land Authority said Grand Gedeh County Superintendent Alex Grant “misled” it in a fraudulent cocoa farming agreement with a Burkinabé businessman. The 30-year deal, worth US$600,000, has been canceled, according to county officials.
“The Superintendent and the County Land Administrator of Grand Gedeh misled the … [Land Authority] during the issuance and signing of the said deed, thereby bypassing established procedures and guidelines required for granting a development grant deed,” the Land Authority said in a statement. It provided no evidence to back that claim.
The Land Authority revoked the deed and suspended two staffers in its Grand Gedeh Office in connection with a deal that targeted 500 acres of ancestral land in the B’hai District. It said it was investigating Paye Freeman, the County Land Administrator, and David Togbasie, Land Dispute Officer. The two men would not speak on the matter.
But a DayLight investigation has uncovered that the Chairman of the Land Authority, Samuel Kpakio, masterminded the deal. Government documents and interviews with officials revealed that Kpakio violated a moratorium to support the agreement. The Land Authority boss utilized an unauthorized surveyor and skipped the legal processes, as mentioned in the weekend press release. The deed was even intended for an unlawful recipient.
The DayLight obtained the deed in question for the 500 acres and observed several issues with the document.
First, Kpakio signed the deed on July 8, 2025, when the moratorium on public land sale was active. The moratorium was issued last year and announced by President Joseph Boakai during this year’s State of the Nation Address, pending the creation of guidelines to prevent land-grabbing.
“These efforts aim to enhance tenure security, resolve conflicts, and promote sustainable land investment throughout Liberia,” the President said. It was lifted on July 31, 2025, twenty-three days after Kpakio signed the deed.
In Friday’s press release, the Land Authority detailed the accusations against Mr. Grant, citing provisions in the Land Rights Act he had allegedly violated. However, the institution glossed over its own actions and inactions, failing to say why it suspended the staffers. This concealed Kpakio’s role in the scandal, while shifting blame to Grant, Freeman, and Togbasie.
While Freeman and Togbasie’s roles in the scam are unclear, the evidence establishes Mr. Grant’s wrongdoing: not obtaining the community people’s consent. However, Mr. Kpakio’s blame game contradicts his position as head of the Land Authority.
Mr. Kpakio is no stranger to land matters. Before being appointed Chairman of the Land Authority, Mr. Kpakio served as director of land use planning and management with “distinction,” according to the institution’s website. Moreover, the Liberia Land Authority was established as a “one-stop shop” for land transactions countrywide, not the Office of the Superintendent.
The DayLight caught up with Mr. Grant in Paynesville on Saturday, but he declined an interview. However, he had admitted to his wrongdoing before canceling the agreement.
“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.”
A copy of a fraudulent deed bearing the signature of the Land Authority’s Chairman, Samuel Kpakio
Second, The DayLight also observed another irregularity with the deed Kpakio signed that has nothing to do with Grant. David Sluwar, a licensed private surveyor, had surveyed the land and signed the document, a red flag, the surveyor’s roster shows. A private land surveyor does not survey a government plot; there are 56 government surveyors registered to do this job.
People familiar with public land procedures and processes believe Sluwar played a crucial part in the scandal. “No government surveyor could have signed that deal,” said one official, who asked not to be named over fear of retribution.
There is another issue regarding Mr. Sluwar, though. Mr. Kpakio signed the deed before the private land surveyor completed the survey, another red flag. The document shows that Mr. Sluwar signed it on July 10, two days after Mr. Kpakio. In normal land transactions, the Chairman of the Land Authority signs a deed after the survey is completed, not before.
Furthermore, details of the survey were not published in line with the Land Rights Regulation. The 2022 instrument calls for published details of a government land survey to be published in a government gazette, in at least two newspapers and radio stations, in local languages.
The regulation also requires the Land Authority to publish a survey notice for at least one month. Like the details, there is no record that a survey notice was published.
The Chairman of the Land Authority, Samuel Kpakio, signed the deed before the survey was completed.
Efforts to get Sluwar’s side of the story did not materialize. His mobile phone number was switched off on Sunday and Monday, and he did not respond to text messages. The DayLight has contacted the Surveyor Licensing and Registration Board about Mr. Sluwar’s role in the scandal.
Third, The DayLight gathered evidence that the Land Authority did not vet the land in question before Kpakio signed the deed. Normally, its vetting department verifies whether there are issues.
Failure to verify explains why the agency did not identify that the 500 acres were customary land. The land, located on the Liberia-Ivory Coast border, was unused because it is a far-to-reach area. However, the plot is easily accessible from the Ivorian side.
Fourth, there is no record that the land in question was put out for a competitive bidding process as mandated by the Land Rights Act.
The newspaper observed one more inconsistency. The deed was granted to the Grand Gedeh Local Government Reserved Farmland, which does not exist. A development grant deed is not awarded to a farmland. Rather, it is issued to a person, an institution, an NGO, or any legal entity. In fact, such a deed is so delicate that the new guidelines require the signatures of three commissioners.
Mr. Kpakio evaded all The DayLight’s efforts for an interview. He did not respond to detailed questions on WhatsApp on Sunday and directly to his office on Monday. He also declined an interview on Tuesday and was unavailable on Wednesday.
Regardless, Mr. Kpakio’s well-documented actions contradict his induction speech in February, in which he spoke about reforming the Land Authority.
“There will be no room for unethical and unprofessional conduct, both in administration and in our interactions with our development partners and the Liberian public,” said Kpakio.
“The Liberia Land Authority will operate differently this time. Our work will be grounded in our core values: quality service delivery, transparency, fairness, accountability, integrity, professionalism, and respect.”
[Additional reporting by Paul Rancy in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County]
Integrity Watch Liberia provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained complete editorial independence of its content.
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.
Top: A screengrab of a drone video showing a portion of a cocoa farm in Bargblor, Cavala District in Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper
By Carlucci Cooper
ZWEDRU – The Liberia Land Authority has charged two communities in Grand Gedeh County US$11,900 to cut their boundary, dragging a dispute over Burkinabe cocoa farmers.
Early last year, Bargblor and Tojallah in the Gbao and Cavalla Districts started a boundary dispute involving Burkinabé cocoa farmers. After a police probe and a court intervention, the matter was passed to the Land Authority for a settlement, which imposed the fee.
The majority of the money covers transportation, allowance and data collection, and administrative costs, according to an estimated budget obtained by The DayLight.
Townspeople in Bargblor said they paid US$500 against the charge, but presented no evidence. Those in Tojallah, on the other hand, said they had paid US$170 for “registration, transportation and mediation” to Daniel Togbasie, County Land Dispute Officer.
“They told us we had to pay a hundred US dollars each just for them to listen to us,” said Peter Carr, a Tojallah elder. “That’s just to hear the case, not even to get the survey done. And now, they want us to cough out nearly US$12,000 before they can even step on our land.”
The charge is inconsistent with the Land Rights Act, which puts the responsibility for boundary harmonization on the government. The law was passed in 2018, granting customary communities ownership of their ancestral territories, ending decades of marginalization. However, neither Tojallah nor Bargblor has established their boundaries, a crucial part of the law.
Campaigners, who have seen the document, said the Land Authority was pricing the communities out of their rights.
“Yes, it’s true the Land Authority charges fees to carry out customary land activities under the fees and regime, but it’s wrong to charge customary communities this much,” said Alphonso Henries, the coordinator for NGOs working on land reform in Liberia.
“The law is intended to build the economic strength of the people and not to deprive them. The Land Authority’s action was wrong and hasty. I think they went too far to exploit the situation,” added Henries.
The Liberia Land Authority has charged Tojallah and Bargblor US$11,900 to resolve their dispute.
Togbasi and Paye Freeman, Grand Gedeh’s Acting Land Administrator, who approved the charge, said they were not authorized to speak on the matter. Kweshie Tetteh, the Land Authority’s communication director, who has that authorization, justified the charge in a Monrovia interview.
“Tojallah and Bargblor are not just a case of customary land formalization,” said Tetteh. “This is a dispute referred from the court. In these instances, we don’t follow the customary process, so the payment responsibility falls on both parties.”
Tetteh added that Tojallah and Bargblor were not project communities and that the Land Authority did not have funding for formalization activities. “The fees could even be higher than this, depending on the size of land and workload,” Tetteh said. He added that the Land Authority, which has US$1,715,260 in the current National Budget, had no money for customary land processes, except for donations.
But the facts contradict Tetteh’s comments. The Land Rights Act Regulation does not mention fees for any activities, except for a “reasonable” amount that communities determine. In the last five years or so, the Land Authority has been drafting a fees regime, but has yet to complete the process. Even so, the breakdown of the US$11,900 is inconsistent with the draft fees regime seen by The DayLight.
The budget the Land Authority’s Grand Gedeh Office presented includes: US$6,300 for allowance for employees, US$2,000 for survey, US$1,200 for Monrovia-based personnel transportation and US$1,600 for administrative costs. This is a far cry from the US$50 and US$100 for most transactions in the draft fees regime.
“To ask communities to pay any money outside of the law can be interpreted as an attempt to deprive communities of their deeds,” said Daniel Wehyee, the lead land rights campaigner at the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI).
“If the Land Authority says communities need to pay money before intervening in boundary disputes, then it means the Land Authority is undoing, is undermining the implementation of the Land Rights Act.”
Furthermore, Tetteh’s suggestion that the court case erases the communities’ customary profile is misleading. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) also applies to customary communities, meant to prevent or resolve land conflicts. It was the fear of these conflicts causing Liberia’s next civil conflict that led to the establishment of the Land Authority.
Stalled
The Tojallah-Bargblor dispute started when men of Tojallah abducted a group of Burkinabe farmers working for Bargblor on a farmland in a place called Karblee. Local people are hosting Burkinabes to plant cocoa in a cross-border joint venture. As of last month, the Liberia Immigration Service registered over 36,000 Burkinabes in Grand Gedeh alone.
Tojallah claims Burkinabés working for Bargblor crossed the Thwanee Creek, their boundary with Bargblor. On the other hand, Bargblor insists that the creek falls within their traditional territory and that the true boundary was Dulee, further into Tojallah.
After several failed mediation attempts, Bargblor filed a complaint with the police, which jailed a host of Tojallah townsmen. Later, the matter was forwarded to the Zwedru Magisterial Court, which then transferred the matter to the Land Authority for settlement.
An elevated view of the Thwanee Creek, which Tojallah argues is the boundary with Bargblor. Their neighbors, however, disagree, sparking a yearlong dispute. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper
“Most of the cases we receive are customary land cases, so we forward them to the Land Authority with an arbitration team, who will establish who the rightful owner of the land is. And we’ve been able to achieve this with the help of the community leaders,” said T. Shad Dweh, Senior Associate Magistrate.
The Land Authority’s excessive request has dragged the dispute, with tensions flaring in the area. People from both sides of the conflict accuse the other of spoiling their crops and people fear walking alone in an area known for intermarriages.
Paul Rancy in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, contributed to this report.
