On 27 June 2024, Dr. Teeko Tozay Yorlay published his recent article titled “The Political Economy of Ganta City’s Post-Conflict Land Disputes” in Vol.10 No.2 2024 of Voice of the Publisher (VP) that can accessed on https://www.scirp.org/journal/VP/. Dr. Yorlay analyzes the post-conflict land disputes in Ganta City, Nimba County, and presents that the land disputes have been driven by the interplay of political, economic, war-related, and socio-cultural factors. He presents the historical underpinnings of the land disputes, reasons the land disputes have been prolonged, the geo-economic value of the disputed land, and the history of the pre-war ownership, among other endogenous and exogenous factors. The article tells before the First Liberian Civil War kicked off on December 24, 1989, significant parts of the main streets in the city were occupied by ethnic Mandingo merchants who used those spots for commercial purposes. As the two Liberian Civil Wars raged, they fled into refugee and displaced camps and later returned and met plots of land occupied. The article speaks of “an economic revolution” in the city, where business-minded people of the Dan and Mah ethnic groups have taken charge of the city’s commerce, playing domineering roles, while their Mandingo compatriots operate on the periphery.
Dr. Yorlay outlines the role of the 2003 Civil War in the land dispute and the contribution of former Ganta Mayor Nohn Tensonnon-led city corporation’s role in the land disputes by the issuance of thirty-three (33) squatter rights on private land in the city for LRD13,900.00. The article provides the economic and political reasons undergirding the land conflicts, as well as the role of Inter-Ethnic/Inter-religious marriage in the land conflicts. In his article, Dr. Yorlay summarized the nature and categories of the and cases in Ganta City as:
1. Disputes over parcels of land involving returning refugees or internally displaced Mandingoes who had come to see their land occupied illegally,
2. Disputes between occupants and claimants in which the occupants are willing to leave the land but are yet to be given compensation like others to whom the Government of Liberia (GoL) provided compensation (“Peace Packages”) in 2011 or 2012 and left because the GoL had introduced the compensation before leaving land culture,
3. Disputes between occupants and claimants in which the occupants were willing to accept the Government of Liberia’s compensation to leave but sadly met their demises, and their families are not ready to live by the spirits and intents of the agreements reached by the deceased with the survival claimants, and
4. Disputes between occupants and claimants in which the occupants contend that they are willing to accept the Government of Liberia’s compensation but contend that those who evaluated and valued their properties on the occupied parcels of land reportedly undervalued them”. He provided consequences of the land disputes on the claimants, on investment and the economy, and limited access to land by the Mandingoes in the city. He indicated that the land disputes have resulted in improved Mandingo community’s coagulation and guides its participation in local politics.
The article concluded that disputes across the city continue to persist for two key economic and political reasons. The situation was fueled by individuals’ economic reasons or the Ganta City’s authority then improper issuance of squatters’ rights as well as roles the various ethnic groups played during the first and second Liberian civil wars. This land occupancy frenzy occurred after the invasion of Ganta in March 2003 by ethnic Mandingo-dominated LURD rebels. The article recommends that the Ganta City Corporation stops issuing squatters rights on private properties, political actors work in facilitating mediatory dialogues to resolve any conflict, and raises the “need for the Dan, Mandingoes, and Mah to compete freely and fairly without any hindrance or exclusion based on their ethnicity and fear of domination.” He called for “respect and tolerance for each other’s views, choices and beliefs” and understanding and accepting that ethnic and religious beliefs and values inform some marriage decisions for which no grudges should be kept.” He advised that “further conflict prevention, resolution, transformation, and peacebuilding mechanism(s) be in place to help deal with any harmful attitudes and beliefs among the three major ethnic groups to create an atmosphere for increased cooperation and harmonious relationships.”
About Teeko Tozay Yorlay, PhD.
He holds PhD in Management Sciences specializing in Public Administration from the Durban University of Technology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management of Public and Development Sector Monitoring &Evaluation from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He also holds an MA in International Relations, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Liberia.For the last three years, Dr. Yorlay has been working with the United Nations at the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the United Nations Organizations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before joining the UN, he worked with the Ministries of Education, Finance, Internal Affairs, Youth and Sports and Gender, Children and Social Protection, and the 52nd Legislature of Liberia.
