A recent nomination made by President Joseph Nyuma at the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) has been challenged by a group of civil society actors who say that the President's action contravenes the act that created the entity.
Members of the Civil Society Working on Land Rights Reform (CSOWGLR) have indicated that the President's nomination of Joe K. Williams as Vice Chairman for Administration and Customer Affairs was ill-advised and should be rescinded.
"Joe Williams' nomination violates Part III section 16.2 of the Act establishing the Liberia Land Authority, which [says] no two Commissioners should come from the same county. This is meant to ensure regional or county balance at the LLA. Another commissioner at the LLA is already from Bong County, so we cannot have another commissioner from Bong," the group said at a press conference over the weekend in Monrovia.
Part III section 16.2 of the LLA Act states, "Commissioners shall be appointed on a non-partisan basis and shall be selected for their integrity, impartiality and their selection shall reflect regional and gender consideration with the provision that no two commissioners shall come from the same county."
"On the contrary to this section, and the fact that the present Commissioner for Land Policy and Planning of the LLA, Cllr. Kula Jackson is a native of Bong, the nomination of another citizen of Bong County, is perhaps a mistake and for which the President has been ill-advised to nominate another son of Bong County as Vice Chair for the LLA," the statement said.
The statement was jointly issued by the Civil Society Working Group on Land Rights Reform and the Multi Actor Platform on Land Governance and Responsible Agricultural Investment in Liberia (MAP Liberia Land Platform).
The statement further said, "The civil society would like to point out this contradiction in the appointment of the Vice Chair, so that the President can take appropriate action, not to be seen as violating the Act of the LLA."
"We like to state for the record also that the Liberia Land Authority is not a political institution, but a technical institution that is set up to address the gross injustices that Liberians have suffered from over the years expressed in unequal land protection and insecure land tenure for most Liberian residents in rural communities of the country. The LLA is set up to oversee the implementation of a people's land law that should address the historical injustices of the past," the working group said.
The Boakai administration has come under a barrage of criticisms for violating or deliberately ignoring laws of the country as it goes about making appointments, especially to tenure position.
Meanwhile, the land rights group also expressed disappointment that, since the inception of this new government, there have been no public or policy pronouncements in support of the Land Rights Act of Liberia.
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The law seeks to address the needs of Liberians in all categories of land ownership; and especially protects the land rights of women, youth, and other marginalized communities.
"The lack of support so far is a cause of concern among not only us Liberians but among our international partners as well," the group said. "Although we are convinced that this is only an oversight and that our government, in the spirit of continuity, will support the law, which the previous government has passed into law to benefit all Liberians.
The land advocates noted that what is even more hopeful is that we have a good number of legislators from the 54th Legislature who were actively involved in the dialogue leading to the passage of the land rights law of Liberia.In efforts to address some of the challenges in the land sector, the group said that a second national land conference involving all stakeholders is being planned to review the implementation, identify challenges and opportunities and pave the way to address the myriad of challenges affecting the sector. "We hope that the Government will support this conference and be fully involved," the statement said.
