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

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xix power during the war, especially among warring factions. Today, many youth are not content to go back to the old ways of subservience to their elders and seek to have greater power in their communities. Youth are also gaining control over land at a younger age, are generally the most eager to invest in cash crops or alternative livelihoods, and, in many clans, are regarded as among the better off. As youth acquire more land and power, this could usher in further challenges to customary rules and governance structures. DISPUTE 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. Encroachment disputes were relatively common throughout the clans, taking the form of disputes between landowners and borrowers; between landowners; between towns; and between clans and other neighboring areas. Disputes between landowners and borrowers, which were reported to be common in Dobli, Gbanshay, and Tengia, stemmed from borrowers planting life trees on land designated for seasonal cropping. Disputes between towns arose over access to valuable resources, including land under fallow. Disputes between clans tended to stem from clan members encroaching on and claiming land across clan boundaries. Disputes between clans and the GOL were reported to be uncommon in the studied clans, with the exception of Motor Road and Ding. Motor Road has an ongoing dispute with the Forest Development Authority (FDA) over three principal issues: 1) the extension of the Sapo National Park boundary, 2) the creation of a three kilometer buffer zone around the park potentially necessitating the relocation of the clan‟s community forest, and 3) the lack of a deed for the clan‟s community forest. Additionally, locals take issue with the rules restricting the hunting and trapping of endangered species and with the allegedly harsh measures to enforce those rules. In Ding, government acquisition of 10,000 acres to establish a military academy during the Tubman administration has fueled resentment in the clan. Disputes over competing customary and statutory claims to land are increasing in some clans, including Ding, Dobli, Mana, and Ylan. In Mana, disputes between local communities and companies seeking land for mining or logging highlight the tensions between customary and statutory claims. These companies allegedly extract local resources, damage clan infrastructure, and renege on promises of service provisions and improvements to clan infrastructure. Disputes over competing customary and statutory claims also exist among clan citizens. In Dobli and Ylan, both outsiders and clan members attest to having deeds and TCs for huge parcels of land. However, some clan members contend that the documents are obtained irregularly, with fake signatures. In Ding, clan members assert that local government officials are complicit in irregular sales of “public land” to outsiders and also forge signatures. Study participants universally reported that disputes over land and natural resources are increasing and will likely continue to increase into the future. In many of the studied clans, the growing number and severity of disputes appears to be associated with rising competition for land and other resources. Growing population density seems to be leading to increased demand for cultivable land as more and more people seek to make farms from a finite amount of land. Pressures are exacerbated by the shifting cultivation system and the need to adequately fallow land before it can be productively engaged. Also, the proximity of some clans to major urban areas has led wealthy, well-connected strangers to seek out land in those clans. Nevertheless, in several clans, disputes were not violent or severe, and dispute resolution mechanisms appeared to be legitimate and effective. The clans with the least violence also tended to be further removed from urban centers and had not undergone a major shift to rubber cultivation. CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
xx DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMS Dispute resolution mechanisms in the studied clans are a mix of local customary and statutory authorities, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, courts, and traditional processes. Many disputes followed more than one of the processes available after initial attempts at resolution failed. In all studied clans, the prescribed dispute resolution process follows a common hierarchy of local authorities. In this process, disputants first bring a case to clan-level statutory and customary authorities, namely the Quarter Chief or Town Chief, followed by the Zonal/General Town Chief (if the clan has such authorities), and then the Clan Chief. If the disputing parties agree with the ruling, the dispute is considered resolved. If either of the parties does not agree, the dispute goes to the next level of the hierarchy. If the dispute cannot be resolved within the clan, it is referred to the Paramount Chief, the District Commissioner, and, eventually, the Superintendent. In the clans, elders are an important part of dispute resolution with many disputing parties consulting the elders before going to the Town Chief. In some clans, the elders told us that they are involved in every level of dispute resolution – even as high as the District Commissioner – and often serve as a jury. Many respondents reported that, when resolving disputes, they follow the prescribed dispute resolution process, and that most disputes are resolved before reaching the Clan Chief. Sometimes, however, disputants vary from the prescribed course and bypass some authorities. The rationales for bypassing authorities included desires to take disputes to authorities that would provide the best resolution, feelings of trust or mistrust in certain authorities, and a preference to bring disputes to those with enforcement authority. In many clans, dispute resolution appears to be undergoing a shift. The legitimacy of local dispute resolution authorities is increasingly being questioned, particularly among the youth. In some clans, local authorities appear to lack the capacity or jurisdiction to respond to the types of land and natural resources issues arising today. Further, many local authorities reported that they lack the powers needed to garner legitimacy and to enforce their rulings, including support to punish individuals who fail to comply with those rulings. With limited enforcement support granted to local authorities, rule breakers can act with impunity. In some clans, local-level dispute resolution authorities are viewed as biased by some members of the community, especially the youth. This is symptomatic of the lack of necessary democratic structures to hold these authorities accountable, including regular elections. In such cases, high level statutory authorities like District Commissioners and Superintendents are increasingly seen as more legitimate than lower level authorities like Clan Chiefs and Paramount Chiefs. Nonetheless, we found cases where local level authorities, especially elders and Town Chiefs, were preferred by some clan members, resulting in competing systems of dispute resolution. SOURCES OF TENURE SECURITY AND INSECURITY In this research, we examined clan members‟ notions around land ownership and control, as well as their perceptions of their communities‟ security of tenure. Our findings indicate that while in some clans sources of tenure insecurity were widespread and severe, in others they were both minimal and manageable. Our findings show that there are many sources of land tenure security in the clans, mainly: 1) Ancestral ties to the land; 2) Deeds, which are used as evidence of land ownership; 3) Tribal certificates (TCs), which under some customary tenure systems are viewed as legitimate evidence of primary rights to land; and, 4) In some clans, little competition for resources due to an abundance of land. CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
Page 1 and 2: LAND POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPO
Page 3 and 4: LIBERIA LAND POLICY & INSTITUTIONAL
Page 5 and 6: ii 1.0 Introduction ...............
Page 7 and 8: iv 4.2.1 Statutory Tenure Claims by
Page 9 and 10: vi 7.3.2 Courts ...................
Page 11 and 12: viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Ma
Page 13 and 14: x ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CDC CF
Page 15 and 16: xii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report s
Page 17 and 18: xiv game for both sale and consumpt
Page 19 and 20: xvi manage tree crops where these a
Page 21: xviii In the clans we visited, stat
Page 25 and 26: xxii Recommended measures include t
Page 27 and 28: xxiv Remove land and governance au
Page 29 and 30: 2 This chapter begins with a presen
Page 31 and 32: 4 1.2 LAND TENURE AND RURAL LIVELIH
Page 33 and 34: 6 (Renner, 1931). Initially lacking
Page 35 and 36: 8 1.3 HISTORY OF LAND TENURE IN LIB
Page 37 and 38: 10 Certificate is merely a permit t
Page 39 and 40: 12 however, rights granted to commu
Page 41 and 42: 14 2.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This ch
Page 43 and 44: 16 Figure 2.2: FEWS-NET map of Libe
Page 45 and 46: 18 In each case, after completion o
Page 47 and 48: 20 3.0 LAND USE AND LIVELIHOODS Thi
Page 49 and 50: 22 Upland Rice Cultivated in each o
Page 51 and 52: 24 money quickly. However, they als
Page 53 and 54: 26 3.2.2 Trees In addition to food
Page 55 and 56: 28 large rubber farms ranging from
Page 57 and 58: 30 tasks assigned to women and vice
Page 59 and 60: 32 3.2.7 Hunting and Fishing In mos
Page 61 and 62: 34 bush and fell trees on a farmer
Page 63 and 64: 36 men‟s focus on life tree culti
Page 65 and 66: 38 from one or more patrilineages,
Page 67 and 68: 40 Figure 4.1: Access to land for f
Page 69 and 70: 42 Figure 4.2: Children’s acquisi
Page 71 and 72: 44 Figure 4.3: Profile of borrowing
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46 he/she is fully integrated as a
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48 widows will sometimes marry a ma
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50 Several communities have rules g
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52 Bush and Forest Resources In all
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54 Water and Fishing Access to wate
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56 Other factors cited for contribu
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58 Figure 4.6: Presence of differen
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60 bush resources largely follows c
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62 In Ylan, some land is held under
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64 the majority of studied clans, t
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66 We also found that, in the clans
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68 In some clans such as Upper Work
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70 Town Chiefs Town Chiefs represen
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72 dispute resolution. 55 While in
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74 such as Clan and Paramount Chief
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76 some women who held positions as
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78 could rely. This in turn produce
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80 community sometimes encounter re
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82 rubber on adjacent land, as well
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84 In other clans, including Ding a
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86 Disputes over Mining Mana Clan c
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88 7.0 DISPUTE RESOLUTION Dispute r
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90 7.2.2 Chairladies In Dobli, Gban
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92 7.3.4 Disputes between Clans/Dis
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94 In some clans, the abundance of
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96 8.2.2 Scale of Ownership Claims
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98 If communities anticipate that t
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100 The importance of documenting c
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102 The current land tenure sys
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104 10.0 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS In
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106 communities. Instead, we sugges
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108 apply for fee simple tenure. Th
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110 tenure unit. Instead, this role
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112 Tribal Certificates and Deeds R
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114 REFERENCES SECONDARY SOURCES Ak
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116 Wallace, Carolyn Gamiao and Rol
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118 DATE TIME ACTIVITY March 23, 20
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120 ANNEX 3: NORTHEAST TRANSECT, DO
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122 ANNEX 5: TOWN MAP, SAYKLEKAN CL
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124 ANNEX 7: HISTORICAL MATRIX, YLA
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126 ANNEX 9: DOBLI DISPUTE LETTER C
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128 ANNEX 11: TRIBAL CERTIFICATE FO
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130 ANNEX 13: SEASONAL CALENDARS, M
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132 ANNEX 14: COMMUNITY FOREST BY-L
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134 CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERI
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136 b. A family or individual shall
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138 a. Standing Rules Tree
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140 The amount of rattan collecte
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142 o o o o o o o Antelope Hippo
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144 Any community member or gro
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146 U.S. Agency for International D
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