In Geeray Town, just a stone throws away from the Roberts International Airport (RIA), a 135-year-old landholding has become the center of a dispute that residents say threatens not only their ancestral heritage but also the country's fragile peace.
The protracted battle over the 751-acre Whaladey Estate has laid bare the chronic weaknesses of Liberia's land administration system--slow courts, overlapping deeds, contested surveys, political interference, and unresolved historical grievances that continue to haunt postwar Liberia.
For Geeray Town leaders, the dispute is no longer just about land; it is about justice delayed, institutions overstretched, and a growing fear that unresolved land conflicts could spiral into violence if left unchecked.
"We have gone to court. We have paid what the court asked. Yet our land is still being sold while we wait," said a town spokesman. "It feels like the courts are sleeping while our heritage disappears."
Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines
Land disputes are among the most persistent sources of conflict in Liberia. Decades of civil war destroyed records, displaced communities, and weakened customary and statutory land governance. Postwar reconstruction, urban expansion, infrastructure projects, and rising land values--especially around Monrovia and the RIA areas--have intensified competition over land.
The Geeray Town case mirrors hundreds of similar disputes across the country, where communities, private claimants, and the state assert overlapping rights, often relying on contradictory deeds, oral histories, and incomplete surveys.
The present conflict escalated in 2018 when Roberts International Airport informed Geeray Town residents that their land had been granted to the airport and ordered them to vacate. Town leaders rejected the claim, presenting a deed they say confirms Geeray's ownership of the Whaladey Estate, established more than 135 years ago.
According to Geeray authorities, RIA later acknowledged that the land did not belong to the airport and invited the community for discussions. But just as talks seemed to calm tensions, two rival groups--the Farwein Session and the Suah-mud Group--emerged, asserting ownership over the same land.
What Geeray residents believed was a resolved issue suddenly reopened, pushing the dispute into the courts.
Conflicting Deeds and Geographic Contradictions
In 2019, Geeray Town sued both groups at the Magisterial Court in Unification City. The case was later transferred to the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Kakata.
Geeray Administrator Wilmot Yalartai argues that the rival claims are fundamentally flawed.
"The Farwein Session's deed reportedly covers about 1,200 acres located thousands of acres away from Geeray Town, while the Suah-mud deed lies across the Gben River, on the opposite side of the Monrovia-RIA Highway," Yalartai said told the Daily Observer during an investigation. "These lands do not touch Geeray Town. Yet they are selling our land as if it were theirs."
Despite the matter being before the court, both groups have continued selling portions of the disputed land--an accusation that has heightened tensions and prompted police intervention, including arrests and the confiscation of weapons.
Surveys, Stop Orders, and Judicial Gridlock
In 2023, the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) attempted to break the deadlock by summoning all parties for a re-survey. Geeray Town and three neighboring townships complied, submitting deeds and paying their share--US$1,900 in Geeray's case.
According to Geeray leaders, the Farwein Session and the Suah-mud Group neither submitted deeds nor paid yet allegedly continued selling land. When the LLA proceeded with the re-survey based on available documentation, the two groups reportedly obtained a court order halting the exercise.
The dispute eventually reached the Supreme Court. During proceedings before then Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay, the rival groups reportedly admitted they had no dispute with the three other townships involved--only with Geeray Town.
Lawyers for Geeray described the admission as decisive.
"If these three townships lie between us and the claimants, and they are not claiming them, then they cannot logically or legally claim Geeray Town," counsel argued.
The Supreme Court ordered the release of the other townships' deeds and referred the Geeray matter back to the lower court.
A Second Survey, Rising Costs, and Mounting Frustration
Back at the 13th Judicial Circuit Court, an investigative survey was ordered and assigned to Land & Housing Development, Inc. (LHDI). Each party was instructed to pay US$4,900.
Geeray Town protested, citing its earlier payment to the LLA and alleging that the Suah-mud Group had not paid. Despite objections, the court reportedly threatened contempt. Under protest, Geeray paid the full amount on September 2, 2025.
Months later, the survey report has still not been submitted.
Surveyor Ernest C. B. Jones confirmed that most of the work is complete but said the report cannot be released until all parties pay in full.
"Releasing it prematurely could expose us to allegations of bias," Jones explained.
For Geeray residents, the explanation offers little comfort.
"We paid everything," a community leader said. "Yet the land is being cleared and sold while we wait for a report that is supposedly finished."
Allegations of Political Encroachment
As legal delays persisted, Geeray Town raised alarm over alleged encroachment by Senator Nathaniel F. McGill. Administrator Yalartai claims the senator brought heavy equipment onto the disputed land and began clearing about four acres, despite being informed that the property is under active litigation.
The allegation, yet to be adjudicated, has fueled perceptions that political power can override legal restraint--an accusation that resonates with many Liberians who see land disputes as battles between ordinary communities and influential elites.
Adding another layer of complexity, former Margibi County Land Administrator Manson Bobby Yogar confirmed that the government, at various times, claimed portions of the land as public property linked to RIA.
Yogar disclosed that stamp orders were issued to halt all activity and that the Supreme Court mandated an independent survey due to overlapping claims involving private groups and the state.
"Until the survey report is submitted, the case is effectively frozen," Yogar said.
For many in Geeray Town, the dispute cannot be separated from long-standing grievances tied to the construction of RIA. Pastor Matthew D. Francis of the Dolo family recounts decades of displacement, alleging that ancestral lands were seized and that promised compensation--reportedly up to US$10 million during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration--was never fully paid.
Community leaders argue that these unresolved injustices explain why land conflicts around RIA continue to resurface, generation after generation.
Farwein Pushes Back
Farwein Session leaders strongly reject Geeray's narrative. Administrator John Jayweh insists that Geeray is not a recognized "session" with ownership rights.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
According to Jayweh, historically recognized sessions include Farwein, Jiba, Suah-mud, and Gbangwin. He claims earlier government-mandated surveys identified Farwein, Jiba, and Suah-mud as affected by RIA land acquisition, with compensation plans drawn accordingly.
"Geeray representatives were present during boundary demarcations and raised no objections," Jayweh said, alleging tensions only escalated later.
Farwein leaders say they have complied fully with court orders and are awaiting the survey report.
A Looming National Crisis
Beyond the competing claims, the Geeray Town case highlights a national emergency. Liberia's land administration system remains overstretched plagued by poor records, slow adjudication, weak enforcement of court orders, and high survey costs that communities struggle to afford.
As land values rise and political stakes increase, unresolved disputes risk erupting into violence, undermining social cohesion and investor confidence.
Geeray Town's cry--"Our land is being sold while the courts sleep"--echoes far beyond Lower Margibi. It is a warning that unless Liberia strengthens land governance, accelerates dispute resolution, enforces moratoriums on contested land, and insulates the process from political influence, land disputes could become one of the country's most dangerous fault lines.
For now, the Whaladey Estate remains trapped in legal limbo--its fate resting on a survey report that could either restore certainty or deepen division.
What happens next may determine not only ownership of 751 acres, but also whether Liberia can finally bring order, justice, and peace to its most contested resource: the land beneath its people's feet.
