The_Open_Door_deel1

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1952, legal ownership of about 2,000 acres in the Sanniquellie
District of the Central Province (now Nimba County), and in
particular in the region which is called the Kitoma Range. Two
years later he founded the Kitoma Mining and Trading Company.
Sections 2(k) and 3(a) of the concession agreement which had been
signed with LAMCO on April 28, 1960 and which had been approved
by the National Legislature on May 28, of the same year,
stipulated that the concessionaire would select an additional
area (the "Exploration Area") before November 18, 1960, which was
to be included in the concession area. On November 16, i960
LAMCO had filed with the Bureau of Natural Resources and Surveys
the geographical description of the selected area - comprising
17,977 acres - together with a\related map, all in accordance
with section 3(a) of the Mining ^Concession Agreement. The area
which had been selected included the Kltpffl'a Range. With regard
to Togba's legal rights respecting ni~s~""'property in the Kitoma
Range, Section 6 of the 1960 Mining Concession Agreement provided
that
"In the event that the Concessionaires would wish to make
use of any private property included within the Concession
Areas, they may endeavour to come to an agreement with the
owner of the land or may request the Government to condemn
the property involved. Uhen so requested, the Government
agrees promptly to condemn the property involved and to
include it in the public lands covered by this Concession
Agreement and the Concessionaires agree to reimburse the
Government for the fair value of the property as determined
and paid in the compensation proceeding following
condemnation" (22).
The Liberian Constitution prevents foreigners from owning real
estate (23) and through this construction (Section 6 of the
Mining Concession Agreement) the Government would expropriate
private lands needed by the foreign investors and subsequently
allow the latter to use these public lands, including the mining
of minerals etc. lying beneath its surface. LAMCO's legal right
to make use of any private land lying within its Concession Area
was the subject of a discussion between President Tubman and
several government officials (among whom were Cabinet ministers)
during the same month (November i960), and apparently it was the
Government's view that the Company could not claim all the
mining area in the country and preclude other entrepeneurs fr
developing them. One of the results of this conclusion was tl
LAMCO had to give back to the Government the Putu Range,
included in its Concession Areas, Another consequence was that
the Director of the Bureau of Natural Resources and Surveys,
A. Momolu Massaquoi, never approved LAMCO's filing for the
Kitoma Range. On April 25> 1963 Togba and Massaquoi had signed a
Preliminary Agreement whereby the Director of the Bureau of
Natural Resources and Surveys approved the granting of the right
to explore and exploit the Kitoma Range to the Kitoma Mining and
Trading Company. This was followed by the granting of a