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

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55 extensively graze in pastures; households in the studied clans mainly possess small ruminants that roam freely and browse on vegetation in the settlement areas. We also heard of no cases in which fodder was collected from bush areas to feed livestock or animals led to water bodies to drink. Hence, livestock seems to have little influence over rights to land and land-based natural resources which were the chief focus of the research. Nevertheless, in Tengia, where cattle and livestock appeared to be more abundant than in most other clans, towns have more rules for livestock. Owners of goats, sheep, and cattle are required to register these animals with the Town Chief and pay a fee of LD50 per animal. The collected funds are used for town development. Animals can graze freely once they are branded and, if a registered animal damages someone‟s crop, there is no fine to the livestock owner. To access livestock, people will ask a livestock owner to give them newborn livestock. Reportedly, if they have a good relationship with that livestock owner, they will not have to pay. Some families in Ding Clan keep hogs. Rules imposed by the Clan Inspector require that the hogs be penned to prevent them from defecating in the sources of drinking water and from harming crops. While failure to do so can result in the hogs being slaughtered by the Clan Inspector, few clan members pen their hogs because the expense of providing their food is prohibitive. Minerals Statutory tenure dominates the assignment of rights to mining spots in the two clans that were engaged in mining – Mana and Ding. Nevertheless, formal rights and regulations (discussed in Section 4.2.2) are layered with certain customary rules. For example, in Ding, an artisanal miner prospecting for gold may initially claim a spot by clearing and prospecting in the area where he proposes to mine. This signals to others in the community that he has reserved this area and intends to exploit it. Having obtained an official permit from the MLME to mine, some miners in Ding will transfer their mining rights to others under customary arrangements. Two arrangements are common: 1) the permit-holder will allow another miner to mine five days for himself and one day for the permit-holder, and 2) the permit-holder will allow another miner to mine all days in exchange for a percentage of the profits the miner earns. Similarly, in Mana, artisanal miners will often go to other towns to mine gold, gaining rights to do so via customary rules. They will ask the mining permit-holder for permission to mine their spot, and either 1) pay dues to the permit-holder once the gold is processed (according to the value of the gold), or 2) pay a flat fee or flat weekly dues to the permit-holder. 4.1.4 Compliance with Customary Rules With the exception of Little Kola, Motor Road, and Saykleken, the studied clans reported a significant problem of waning compliance with customary rules governing tenure. Even Motor Road and Saykleken citizens acknowledged some decrease in compliance with traditional rules. War was repeatedly cited as a major reason for diminishing compliance (see Figure 4.5). Many clan members told us that before the war, compliance with rules established by elders and local leaders was strong. However, war destabilized communities and, according to numerous elders, empowered youth through guns, rather than wisdom. Citizens in Ding told us that, as youth gained access to weapons, they began to oppose local authorities. In Motor Road, youth said that worsening poverty caused by the war also weakened compliance, seemingly referring to the breaking of rules restricting overharvesting and stealing. Among clans where diminishing compliance was reported to be a problem, many citizens, particularly older clan citizens and elders, lamented laws and education promoting respect for “human rights,” and attributed compliance problems to these sources. Whereas before these laws were imposed, those who violated customary rules could be “carried down the road” or “sent into the bush” to be punished by traditional societies, societies are no longer allowed to inflict such harsh customary punishments on rule-breakers. Likewise, parents and teachers used to be able to beat the children when they showed disrespect. Many feel that this lack of traditional deterrents has contributed to a culture of impunity for violators of customary rules. CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
56 Other factors cited for contributing to disrespect for customary rules and leaders were abuse of power by local leaders and lack of enforcement power vested in leaders, especially more local or traditional ones like Town Chiefs and Town Elders. In Ylan, for example, the youth and others accuse statutory leaders of grabbing land away from the people and seeding mistrust. For their part, customary leaders in the clan complain that they have lost their power to enforce traditional rules. Compliance with rules in Nitrian Community is said to have once been robust because people believed strongly in the power of the Bodioh and strong norms of mutual respect and unity among community members existed. Today, however, failure of the Bodioh to follow the rules governing his position has led the youth and some elders to question not only his legitimacy but also the legitimacy of the rules he is responsible for enforcing. Consultations with the youth sometimes revealed a different perspective on the reasons for weakening rule structures. In Tengia, youth expressed frustration with the authority wielded by the elders and the obligations imposed on them, insisting that they no longer wanted to be their “bag carriers and messengers.” According to elders in Saykleken, youth challenge the rules, saying that times have changed and that the rules no longer apply to modern day realities. Exclusion of the youth from the realms of rule-making and authority are being met with acts of resistance, including rejecting traditional practices, decisions made by customary authorities, and directives to contribute to town labor. Likewise, in Dobli, youth attribute rule-breaking to youth not being allowed to participate in decision-making, including decisions about clan rules. Figure 4.5: Reasons cited for diminishing compliance with customary rules Clan Imposition of “human rights” laws and education – including limitations on punishments imposed by traditional societies, parents, and teachers War breeding disrespect for customary rules and authorities by the youth Exclusion of youth from decision-making roles or disrespectful treatment of youth Declining respect for local leaders (e.g., due to abuse of power or lack of capacity to enforce rules) Ding X X Dobli X X X Gbanshay X X Mana X Motor Road X X Nitrian X X Saykleken X Tengia X X Upper Workor Ylan X X Unlike customary rules, compliance with and respect for statutory rules has increased in both Ding and Ylan Clans. In both cases, citizens cited the better capacity to enforce rules – that police could be called in and the perpetrator arrested. In Ding, some predicted that “government” rules will eventually replace customary rules in the clan. Yet, in Motor Road, many expressed frustration with statutory rules introduced by the FDA and CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
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LAND POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPO
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LIBERIA LAND POLICY & INSTITUTIONAL
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ii 1.0 Introduction ...............
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iv 4.2.1 Statutory Tenure Claims by
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vi 7.3.2 Courts ...................
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viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Ma
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x ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CDC CF
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xii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report s
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xiv game for both sale and consumpt
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xvi manage tree crops where these a
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xviii In the clans we visited, stat
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xx DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMS Di
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xxii Recommended measures include t
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xxiv Remove land and governance au
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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
Page 73 and 74: 46 he/she is fully integrated as a
Page 75 and 76: 48 widows will sometimes marry a ma
Page 77 and 78: 50 Several communities have rules g
Page 79 and 80: 52 Bush and Forest Resources In all
Page 81: 54 Water and Fishing Access to wate
Page 85 and 86: 58 Figure 4.6: Presence of differen
Page 87 and 88: 60 bush resources largely follows c
Page 89 and 90: 62 In Ylan, some land is held under
Page 91 and 92: 64 the majority of studied clans, t
Page 93 and 94: 66 We also found that, in the clans
Page 95 and 96: 68 In some clans such as Upper Work
Page 97 and 98: 70 Town Chiefs Town Chiefs represen
Page 99 and 100: 72 dispute resolution. 55 While in
Page 101 and 102: 74 such as Clan and Paramount Chief
Page 103 and 104: 76 some women who held positions as
Page 105 and 106: 78 could rely. This in turn produce
Page 107 and 108: 80 community sometimes encounter re
Page 109 and 110: 82 rubber on adjacent land, as well
Page 111 and 112: 84 In other clans, including Ding a
Page 113 and 114: 86 Disputes over Mining Mana Clan c
Page 115 and 116: 88 7.0 DISPUTE RESOLUTION Dispute r
Page 117 and 118: 90 7.2.2 Chairladies In Dobli, Gban
Page 119 and 120: 92 7.3.4 Disputes between Clans/Dis
Page 121 and 122: 94 In some clans, the abundance of
Page 123 and 124: 96 8.2.2 Scale of Ownership Claims
Page 125 and 126: 98 If communities anticipate that t
Page 127 and 128: 100 The importance of documenting c
Page 129 and 130: 102 The current land tenure sys
Page 131 and 132: 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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