It appears like the Government of Liberia is finding it very difficult to counter the movement of Burkinabés into Liberia and halt them from exploiting some of the country's natural resources without permit.
The issue about the influx of Burkinabés into Liberia was a major issue of concern during the Ministry of Internal Affairs National Orientation Workshop for Chiefs and Elders last year, when Vice President Jeremiah Koung urged the chiefs or local authorities to be vigilant and document all foreigners, especially Burkinabés and also stop giving land to any of them.
He said at the time that giving land to foreigners was illegal, because foreigners do not have the right to own land in Liberia.
Vice President Koung's warning appears to have reached a deadlock, with thousands of Burkinabés pouring into Liberia, exploiting the community and nature reserves by planting tree crops such as cocoa.
Up to now the number of Burkinabés in Liberia, particularly in Nimba County, is not known, in spite of reports that they are still taking advantage of the porous borders with Ivory Coast to enter Liberia.
On Wednesday, March 26, 2025, the Daily Observer asked County Administrative Officer, formerly County Inspector Daniel Zekpeh, about what the local authority is doing to halt the influx of Burkinabé.
He said it requires collective efforts from all actors, including the Liberia Immigration Service and the community to halt the influx and also stop them from entering the forest.
Zekpeh described his experience carrying on community engagement in the affected areas, including Boe & Quilla and the Kparblee communities, where the Burkinabé are heavily based, to keep track of the Burkinabé and report to the appropriate authority.
"We are engaging the community, because they are the one who are bringing in those Burkinabe' and at the same time the LIS to play their part," he said.
The County's LIS Commander and Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, Richard Saye Mehnpaine, told the Observer that the Burkinabés cannot be deported because they are ECOWAS citizens.
He said despite Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger breaking away from ECOWAS still asked member countries to still maintain their sovereignty as part of ECOWAS.
"What we are doing is to ensure that they get their resident permit and live in confine of the law," he said.
ACI. Mehnpaine notes that as of now they don't know the numbers of Burkinabe' in the affected communities, also engaging the communities to cooperate with LIS by informing of the numbers of Burkinabe' under their control.
"What we have established is the community people that send for these Burkinabe' as casual labour of their cocoa farm, so what we are telling is to keep us informed of the number of foreigners each family is hiring," he said.
"If you are sending for 10. persons, tell us, so we can catalog their location, how long they are going to be here and also make sure to get their proper documents," he added.
The Liberia Immigration Service also outlined some challenges in pursuing the Burkinabe' to where they are based in the forest.
"We don't have the required mobility to effectively do our work in manning this county, no car and we have limited manpower, especially those that are equipped," he asserted.
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"We cannot send unarmed men in the forest to pursue those foreigners, we don't know what is in their possession or where they are," he said.
The influx of Burkinabé has become unprecedented and alarming, something many believed there will be more Burkinabe' coming in due to the rise in the price of cocoa.
Nearly all the Burkinabe' entering the country are seeking for land to farm, especially in the cocoa sector, where upon entering they will move deep into the forest and begin carrying on cultivation.
Most of those hired do cost sharing, where both they and the Burkinabe' divide the farm 50/50 whenever the farm is mature for harvesting.
Grand Gedeh District #3 Representative Jacob Dabee in one of the conferences last year raised an alarm over the influx in his community in his county, something he said, if not stopped, will lead to growing conflict in the future.
