Customary Land Tenure in Liberia - Land Tenure and Property ...

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6.0 DISPUTES
In this section, we discuss the types of land and resource disputes in the study areas, as well as their
prevalence, severity, and origins. In many of the studied clans, disputes are pervasive and increasing in
conjunction with rising competition for land and resources. According to an Interagency Conflict Assessment
Framework (ICAF) report, “(t)he pathways for increasing levels of violence are in place, often used to
stimulate minor or small-scale conflict” (Paczynska, 2010, p. 6). The report further states that “the
complex and largely unresolved issues of ownership and claims over land are in the views of most
Liberians the primary source of social tensions in the country” (p. 9).
Disputes were most prevalent in clans with a high prevalence of life trees, those located near to major urban
areas (e.g., Gbanshay, Ding, Ylan), and those with high-value resources (e.g., Mana). Study participants
universally reported that the prevalence of disputes is increasing and will continue to increase into the future.
Many reported that if no resolution is found for the most pressing disputes, they will become violent. Still, in
other clans, disputes existed but were not severe and were locally resolved. Here, we present the types of
disputes that we encountered in the 11 studied clans.
6.1 TYPES OF DISPUTES
We encountered a diversity of disputes over land and natural resources in the studied clans. In many clans,
these disputes were related to access to resources, encroachment, inheritance, and disputed boundaries. In
other clans, disputes arose over outsiders‟ irregular acquisition of land. We also encountered a few instances
of conflicts between tribes, conflicts with government agencies, and conflicts over mining areas. The various
types of disputes are discussed in detail below.
6.1.1 Inheritance Disputes
Inheritance disputes occur over the division of land and resources, frequently over land planted in life trees.
These disputes take several forms, including disputes among multiple wives, disputes among brothers and
sisters, and disputes between widows and their in-laws. However, in Ding, Little Kola, Mana, and Motor
Road Clans, these types of disputes are reported to be uncommon.
In many of the studied clans, disputes over the inheritance of life trees are common. For example, in Upper
Workor, inheritance disputes arise between siblings when cocoa and coffee plantations are left only to the
male children, though the daughters contend that all the children have equal rights to their fathers‟ property.
Similarly, in Saykleken Clan, we heard of two cases in which a woman‟s father died and her brothers claimed
the land planted in life trees. When these cases were presented before the local leaders, they were decided in
favor of the sisters. In contrast, a dispute in Ylan Clan arose when a man‟s sisters refused him access to a
rubber plantation planted by their father. Reportedly, the man‟s sisters did not recognize him as their sibling
because their father had not paid bride price to his mother‟s parents.
Though polygyny is a relatively common practice throughout the studied clans, inheritance disputes among
multiple wives were only reported to occur in Tengia and Saykleken. In Tengia, clan members told us that
sometimes senior wives force junior wives off the land to safeguard the inheritance rights of the senior wives‟
children. In Saykleken, wives fight when they want their sons to inherit specific portions of land. In Ding,
clan members reported that in the past, disputes between multiples wives over claims to land were common.
However, polygyny has declined in that clan and disputes between multiple wives have become rare.
An additional source of disputes within families stems from married women‟s rights to continue to access
land in her natal community. In Tengia Clan, women who marry out and then return to their natal
CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA