GBARNGA, May 16 (LINA) – The Liberian Government has disclosed that an unspecified amount of funding has been provided to the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) by the World Bank to implement the country’s land policies.
Making the disclosure in Gbarnga recently, a Commissioner at the LLA, Mr. Kular Jackson, who is also the president of the Bong County Local Bar, said land issue is global, but noted that there is a robust land right law that helps to deal with land issues in Liberia.
According to him, since the formation of Liberia in 1822, there has never been a land infantry, while land functioning was divided among government agencies, including the Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy.
At the same time, Mr. Jackson is urging communities to get their customary land deeds and stop relying on tribal deeds, noting that « tribal certificate » is not a deed.
According to him, the land right law gives the opportunity to all communities to go through what he termed « community self- identification » process.
In another development, the Salala Magistrate in Lower Bong County, Titus A. Raily, has outlined several challenges being faced by the court in some parts of Bong County.
Speaking at the formal opening of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga for the May 2022 Term of Court, Mr. Raily indicated that since he took assignment in February this year, he has been carrying on assessment tour during which he found that courts in some parts of Bong County are seriously challenged.
According to him, the Magisterial Court in Zoweinta is currently operating from a private home as a result of lack of office space, while the Gbatala Magisterial Court is operating from a market building, and the court in Bong Mines is currently operating from a church edifice.
He alleged that instead of the court handling criminal cases in Bong Mines, it is the “country devil” otherwise referred to as « mask dancers » who are handling criminal cases in the district, something he noted, is wrong under the law.
Meanwhile, Mr. Raily is urging the Supreme Court of Liberia to support magisterial courts in Bong County by providing them typewriters, adding that the Salala Magisterial Court currently lacks a secretary due to lack of a typewriter.
He also cited lack of mobility as another major constraint faced by magistrates in the county.
