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

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57 their enforcement. They complain of being wrongly accused of illegal hunting, of abuses by the FDA, and of crop destruction by animals. 4.2 STATUTORY TENURE: TRIBAL CERTIFICATES, DEEDS, CONCESSIONS, AND STATE LAND RIGHTS With the exception of Saykleken, statutory forms of documenting land rights are present in all clans. With the exception of Tengia, where there is only one suspected deed and a lease for land to a Lutheran Mission, the tenure systems of all nine remaining clans are (or are likely to soon be) substantially influenced by the introduction of statutory tenure forms. We encountered four main statutory tenure forms in the studied clans: Tribal Certificates (TCs). These instruments are legal authorizations for the holder to have a designated area of land surveyed. Tribal Certificates certify that the land is clear of pre-existing claims. By law, TCs must be signed by the Clan Chief and Paramount Chief in whose jurisdiction the land lies, but the actual documents typically call for numerous additional signatures, including that of the District Commissioner. Whereas the documents specify the acreage of the land in question, they provide no sketch map. Descriptions of the boundaries of the land area are rudimentary, consisting of the side of the road the claim lies on if one travels from one “block” to another, with each block presumably representing a boundary; there are no indications of the fourth boundary. Obtaining a TC constitutes the first step in the process of securing a deed for a customary holding in the area designated as the Hinterlands. By themselves, they do not constitute legal certification of land rights, which can only be gained once the area has been surveyed and a deed secured. However, the TCs we were shown provide no indication of the legal meaning behind these instruments beyond certifying that the area of land is unencumbered. Annexes 10, 11, and 12 display TCs we were shown. Deeds. These instruments constitute legal certification of land rights. Unlike deeds issued to secure rights in fee simple, the Hinterlands Law suggests that deeds issued to tribal peoples residing in the area designated as the Hinterlands are supposed to secure rights to communal holdings. Moreover, the Public Land Law‟s stipulation prohibiting the sale of land in the “Tribal Reserve” would seem to imply that such deeds do not bestow the right to alienate the land. Unfortunately, the law provides no clear definition of what constitutes “Tribal Reserve” though one might assume that land secured as a communal holding would fall into this category. Rights granted to companies or organizations. These include concessions, licenses, permits, and contracts granting private companies and organizations rights to land and often certain natural resources associated with that land. Government Land. Although land not held under a deed is often considered “public land” in Liberia – including areas claimed under custom by communities, Government Land refers specifically to holdings designated for specific use by the GOL, including protected areas and military facilities. In the case of TCs and deeds, some have reportedly been issued to “insiders” (i.e., towns, clans, Family Heads, and other members of the autochthonous group), usually for the purpose of securing customary claims to land. In other cases, these instruments have been used by “outsiders” to claim exclusive rights to land with the effect of removing the land from the customary tenure realm. Because we were not able to examine any deeds, we are uncertain as to whether deeds issued to “insiders” are distinct from deeds issued to “outsiders.” In other words, are members of the autochthonous group granted deeds for customary holdings while outsiders are issued deeds for fee simple tenure, or are both groups issued the same kind of deed Figure 4.6 provides a breakdown of the different statutory forms reported on in the different clans and distinguishes between TCs and deeds provided to “insiders” versus “outsiders” since the legitimacy of these instruments tends to be regarded quite differently depending on whether they are certifying customary claims or asserting new claims, with some important nuances that are highlighted in the following sections. CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
58 Figure 4.6: Presence of different statutory tenure forms in (or nearby) the studied clans Tribal Certificates or deeds issued to towns, Family Heads, or other members of the autochthonous group Tribal Certificates or deeds issued to “outsiders,” (e.g., government officials, wealthy elites, members of other tribal groups) Land held under concession, license, or other contract to a company or organization Land designated for use by the government Ding X X X Dobli X Gbanshay X X Little Kola X Mana X Motor Road X Nitrian X Saykleken Tengia X X Upper Workor X X Ylan X 4.2.1 Statutory Tenure Claims by Clan Citizens In several of the studied areas, clan citizens have secured TCs and, in some cases, deeds to secure their claims to land. The level at which the claims have been made and on whose behalf the documents are reported to be issued provides insight into local perceptions about who “owns” the land and who should be in charge of administering that land. In Upper Workor, apart from deeded land in the city of Voinjama, there are reported to be three pieces of land covered by a deed 50 and two towns that are in the process of acquiring TCs (to be registered in the names of the towns). Here, citizens admit confusion over the process for acquiring deeds and also claim that they lack the resources to pursue them. Others in this clan are reluctant to deviate from the customary tenure system, because of the fear that individualization of land tenure will provoke landlessness. Nevertheless, some see they have little choice if they want to protect their land from government expropriation, especially if minerals are discovered on their land. They feel that TCs can provide such protection and are not aware of the need to acquire deeds. In Little Kola, three deeds are reported to have been issued during the Tubman administration to individuals indigenous to the clan, including one female congressional representative. All three are recognized by the 50 However, it is not known whether the deeds have been issued to clan citizens or to outsiders. 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
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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 and 82: 54 Water and Fishing Access to wate
Page 83: 56 Other factors cited for contribu
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
Page 133 and 134: 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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