By D. Abraham Cooper
Correspondent, Grand Gedeh
Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County – A boundary dispute between two communities in Grand Gedeh County has triggered controversy after the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) demanded nearly US$12,000 to mediate the issue ~ an amount critics say violates the spirit of the country’s landmark Land Rights Act.
The dispute, involving the towns of Bargblor and Tojallah in Gbao and Cavalla Districts respectively, centers on the presence of Burkinabé cocoa farmers farming land claimed by both communities. The conflict, which surfaced early last year, was initially investigated by police and then referred to court before being handed over to the LLA for resolution.
The LLA subsequently issued an estimated bill of US$11,900 to demarcate the boundary between the two towns. According to a copy of the budget obtained by this newspaper, the majority of the charge covers transportation, allowances, data collection, and administrative expenses.
Community members from Bargblor claim they paid US$500 toward the fee, though no receipts were provided. Meanwhile, residents of Tojallah said they had already paid US$170 for what they described as “registration, transportation and mediation” to David Togbasie, the County Land Dispute Officer.
“They told us we had to pay a hundred U.S. dollars each just for them to listen to us,” said Peter Carr, a community elder in Tojallah. “That’s just to hear the case ~ not even to survey the land. And now, they want us to cough up nearly twelve thousand dollars before they can even step on our land.”
Critics say the fee violates the Land Rights Act of 2018, which mandates that the government bear the responsibility for harmonizing customary land boundaries. The Act gives customary communities ownership of their ancestral lands and was designed to redress decades of exclusion.
Neither Bargblor nor Tojallah has completed the process of legally formalizing their land boundaries ~ a key requirement under the law. However, land rights advocates say the high cost imposed by the LLA is a major obstacle to that process.
“Yes, it’s true the Land Authority charges fees under the official regime,” said Alphonso Henries, national coordinator for a coalition of NGOs working on land reform. “But charging nearly $12,000 to poor, rural communities is unreasonable. The law is intended to empower the people ~ not to deprive them.”
Henries accused the LLA of exploiting the communities and acting in bad faith. “The Land Authority’s actions in this case were wrong and hasty. They’ve gone too far.”
Attempts to speak with the local officials involved were unsuccessful. Both David Togbasie, the County Land Dispute Officer, and Paye Freeman, the County Land Administrator who approved the charge, declined to comment, saying they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
However, LLA Communications Director Kweshie Tetteh, speaking from Monrovia, defended the agency’s decision.
“This is not simply a case of customary land formalization,” Tetteh said, suggesting that the complexity of the dispute warranted the fee.
Meanwhile, the communities of Bargblor and Tojallah remain at an impasse, unsure when ~ or if ~ the boundary will be resolved, as the hefty fee continues to delay any formal intervention.
