Monrovia, Liberia – The Multi-Actor Platform on Land Governance and Responsible Agricultural Investment in Liberia (MAP Liberia Land Platform), with technical assistance from the Liberia Land Authority (LLA), has trained more than twenty-seven Community Land Development Management Committee (CLDMC) members from six (6) Liberian counties as part of continuous efforts to strengthen the ability of community structures established to offer technical support to communities in managing customary land.
The CLDMC members were selected from Grand Cape Mount, Bomi, Sinoe, River Cess, Maryland, and Grand Gedeh Counties, per a statement dated November 10, 2024.
As they take on the responsibility of overseeing the management of their communities’ lands, the training gave CLDMC members the chance to get a better grasp of organizational growth, leadership, and fostering relationships with their local leaders.
The training specifically covered the roles and responsibilities of the CLDMC, created a channel of communication between the CLDMC and Community Acting Collectively (CAC), and enhanced knowledge and abilities in addressing women’s land rights and meaningful participation in land governance.
The six phases of the Customary Land Formulation process were also covered in the training. The MAP Liberia Land Platform’s National Coordinator, Mr. John F. Kelvin, gave a summary of the training. He stated that the Platform’s goal is to give government, private sector, academic, and community representatives a forum to discuss policies and practices that will enhance land governance and responsible agricultural investment.
Following the exercise, he continued, the CLDMC members will have a better grasp of the Land Rights Act, which acts as a guide for all kinds of land in Liberia.
Morris Kormasu, Head, Division of Customary property Regulation at the Liberia Land Authority, stated that the LLA created the Land Rights Act (LRA) to offer guidelines for all property ownership.
He said that in order for communities to acquire statutory deeds, they need to adhere to the six (6) steps outlined in the LLA.
According to him, the six (6) procedures which includes: “Community Self-identification Procedure (CSI); presenting all relevant documents from the completed CSI process to the LLA for verification, validation and certification; submit to the LLA rules of gathering and by-laws procedures; and given an overview of the governance body of the CLDMC as well as overview of the boundary harmonization among others, are requirements that gives community rights to own customary land.”
“This training is intended to provide an overview of the Land Rights Act; it will enable them know the rules that apply in governing their customary land,” he said. Mr.
Kormasu also admonished communities to always connect the LLA whenever their issues of land dispute arise.
Also, the CLDMC Chairman in Bomi County, Winston Far said the training has given them a broader knowledge on how to engage and educate communities in the formulizing their customary land. “We the members of the CLDMC have been educated on the various types of land ownership. Most especially the customary land. We are also aware from this training that customary land is communities land and no one family has ownership,” he added.
The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), led by the Rights and Rice Foundation (RRF), launched the nationally owned MAP Liberia Land Platform in February 2018.
A wide range of actors and stakeholders are brought together by the platform, including government agencies that deal with land, the environment, and agriculture; private sector organizations; civil society organizations; community-based organizations; academic and research institutions; and international development partners.
Reported by: Prince Saah
Contact: +231778239813
Email: saahprince119@gmail.com
