By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
A platform of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) named Land for Life which seeks to promote inclusive, people-centered land governance in Sierra Leone has taken the Customary Land Rights Act, 2022 to the provincial people.
The event titled the People’s Land Forum Conference was held at the Bombali District Council Hall on the 29th of May 2023 in Makeni.
The Customary Land Rights law states that every piece of land outside the Western Area of Freetown is under a customary rule and that no individual should have private ownership over customary rule. It also says at least 60% of the adult male and female members of a family must agree before a family land is leased for investment.
It advances that the long-term tenancy for family land shall not exceed 50 years and they are to be reviewed not more than 21 years. It urges Chiefdom Council to play an oversight role to ensure that there is no conflict in families as they deal with their land issues and that no member of the family is discriminated against.
The new customary Land Rights Act, of 2022 discourages land discrimination where every citizen of Sierra Leone now has the right to acquire land anywhere in the country, noting that any existing customary law that discriminates against people based on their gender, religion, tribe, age, marital, social or economic status is considered void under the new Act. It also states that both male and female members of the family or the community now have equal rights to hold, use, inherit, succeed to, or deal with the land without any discrimination.
“Any existing customary law that discriminates against anyone based on their gender is considered void under the Customary Land Rights Act, 2022,” part of the law states.
Paramount Chief of Bekeh Loko Chiefdom, PortLoko District, and Foday Santigie Kanu noted that as a traditional ruler, the conference was very timely as land issues have been so difficult to handle. He said it has been a serious problem for traditional rulers to administer lands to the rightful owners.
He urged other traditional rulers to be sincere with the communities which they represent as he said the land is not theirs, but that of the community. He promised to sensitize his people about the new laws that govern the land system in the country. He advised investors that may want to seek land in the provinces to do so in accordance with the new land laws.
One of the participants at the conference, Susan Bona from Tonkolili District commended the organizers for making them aware of the customary land rights. She said in mining Chiefdoms, women don’t have the right to land. She urged Land for Life to establish a district office that will serve as an intermediary between investors and land owners.
In his Keynote address, Acting North-East Regional Director in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning, Aiah P. Kaingbanja centered his statement on the two enacted laws in the Ministry. He noted that it has been the cry of the people that the national land Commission and the customary Land Right Act on the land tenure system should be reformed.
He said enacting the Land Rights Act has never happened in the sub-region and it will serve as a model for other countries. He added that the new laws bring the power on the ownership of land to the community people and that the community people will benefit from these laws due to the fact that there will be no transaction about a land that will not have their consent.
“What happened before is that Paramount Chiefs and Government go into a land agreement on behalf of the people unknowingly to them. The people will just see investors from different companies come to their land and start operation without their consent, which the new law condemns” he said.
The Idea of Land for Life taking customary land laws into the hands of the customary people is underpinned by the motivation of the culture of people-centered responsible governance. The presentation of the new laws by policy actors and government stakeholders to the provincial people climaxed the event.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (31/05/23)
