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

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Certificate is merely a permit to survey the land rather than a deed. Several additional steps must be taken before
a public land sale deed will be granted, including obtaining the signature of the President of Liberia. Whereas
most land held under custom by indigenous tribes was designated “public land” and is therefore presumably
subject to conversion to private tenure through public land sale, the Public Lands Law prohibits the sale of land
in the “Tribal Reserve.” However, no definition for that term is given. 1011 The presumption seems to be that if a
TC is issued the land must not fall under Community Land, a presumption that assumes both that tribal chiefs
know what constitutes the Community Land and that they will enforce the law prohibiting its sale.
In addition, the law codifies the antiquated and offensive allotment system that had been in place since the ACS
first began bringing settlers to Liberia. 12 Upon arrival, and with a declaration of intent to become a Liberian
citizen, immigrants are to receive 10 acres of farmland or a town plot. Upon receiving Liberian citizenship and
either building a house or cultivating two acres of the farmland, the settler is entitled to a deed granting him
permanent ownership of the land in fee simple. The same right is available to “aborigines (indigenous Africans)
who become civilized,” (Brown, 1982) 13 although one-fourth of the farmland must be brought under cultivation
before a deed is granted in their case.
The Hinterlands Law, first drafted in 1905 and redrafted at least four times since (Wily, 2007, p. 112), focuses
mainly on creating a governance structure for the Hinterlands, though two articles specifically dictate tribal land
rights in the interior regions of Liberia not falling under fee simple tenure. 14 Article 66(a) states that title to such
land vests in the state, though respective tribes have rights to use the land for farming and other livelihood
activities. However, it also states that, “the right and title of the respective tribes to lands of an adequate area for
farming and other enterprises essential to the necessities of the tribe remain inherent in the tribe to be utilized by
them for these purposes; and whether or not they have procured deeds from the Government […] their rights
and interests in and to such areas are a perfect reserve and give them title to the land against any person or
persons whenever.” The language clearly suggests that tribes hold title to land that they occupy and use, but this
conflicts with the preceding statement that title to the land vests in the Liberian state. All reference to the tribes
holding title to their land was removed when the Hinterlands Law was codified as the Aborigines Law (discussed
below). However, the 2001 revision of the Hinterlands Law retains the original language. Although this language
suggests that tribes hold title to the land they use regardless of those rights being documented, the law grants the
tribes a right to apply for communal holdings with the Paramount Chief acting as trustee for the land which are
surveyed at cost to the tribe and cannot be sold. 15 In addition, Article 66(e) provides that tribes may petition the
government for a division of tribal land into family holdings in fee simple “should the tribe become sufficiently
advanced in the arts of civilization.”
In 1956, the Hinterlands Law was codified and given full statutory force as the Aborigines Law in the Liberian
Code of Law, though references to tribes holding title over the land they use were replaced with a “right of
possession.” 16 The shift in language and codification of the Aborigines Law changed the status of the indigenous
Africans from collective landowners to merely land occupiers. Prior to this, the land in the Hinterlands was
generally acknowledged as unregistered, customarily owned land with the government as trustee (Wily, 2007, p.
122). Whether the Aborigines Law is still in effect today is disputed as it was excluded from the 1973 Revised
Liberian Code of Laws (129) – the Code currently in effect. It is unclear if the exclusion was an unintended
10 In this report, the term “Tribal Reserve” is used interchangeably with „Community Land‟ and is defined as “land available
for communities to exert perpetual, heritable rights to land via customary law, which is inalienable unless removed by a
member of the claimant community via a prescribed process to convert it to fee simple tenure.”
11 Public Lands Law, Ch. 3, Sec. 30
12 Public Lands Law, Ch. 4
13 While being “civilized” traditionally depended greatly on level of education, additional factors included adopting a
“civilized” (namely western) life – choosing to wear western-style clothing and having western homes and furniture.
“Civilized” people were often „minor officials, clerks, schoolteachers, [and] nurses‟.
14 Rules and Regulations Governing the Hinterlands, 2001
15 Rules and Regulations Governing the Hinterlands, 2001, Art. 66(b)-(d)
16 Aborigines Law (Title 1, Liberian Code of Laws, 1956-58), Ch. 11, Sec. 270
CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA