By Foday Moriba Conteh
During the 1stAnnual General Assembly of Land for Life Initiative Sierra Leone held on Thursday 15th December, 2022 at Dohas Hotel Complex in Bo City, Southern Sierra Leone, the newly appointed Commissioner General of the National Lands Commission Sierra Leone, Sheikh Swabu Sowa, officially launched the, Land for Life Initiative Sierra Leone, a platform of four Civil Society Organisations organised to promote a people-centred land governance in Sierra Leone.
In his address, while launching the organization, the Commissioner General of the National Lands Commission Sierra Leone, Sheikh Swabu Sowa commended Land for Life Initiative Sierra Leone for the tremendous work they have been doing towards land governance issues in the country.
He maintained that there are numerous challenges within the land sector in the country of which he said that in order to address those challenges all players working on land reforms in the country need to join hands together. He stated that the National Lands Commission Sierra Leone has been established in order to implement the new land laws in the country.
He said with Land for Life Initiative Sierra Leone ,a platform of four Civil Society Organisations organised to promote a people-centred land governance in Sierra Leone launched, as an organization, he is of the strong conviction that land governance issues in the country will be addressed.
He concluded by officially launching Land for Life Initiative Sierra Leone and further assured them of the Lands Commission’s support towards actualizing their mandate as an organization.
Earlier, the National Convener of Land for Life Sierra Leone, Abu A. Brima, gave an overview of the organization of which he said the organization was founded by a multi country team of civil society organizations in Ethiopia, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone, with funding support from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through a German NGO called Welthungerhilfe (WHH).
He added that Land for Life Initiative started in Sierra Leone in 2019 with selected organisations working on land governance issues in the country and that these organizations include Forum for Human Rights and Development (FoHRD), Network Movement for Justice and Development (NDJD), Partner Initiative for Conflict Transformation (PICOT) and United for the Protection of Human Rights (UPHR).
Abu A. Brima revealed that over the years, they were engaged in the facilitation of multi-actor partnership process in the operational districts, promoting the rights of women and other vulnerable groups, mediating land related conflicts in communities, especially between communities and private sector investors.
He revealed that the initiative aims at contributing to the formulation and implementation of policies and laws on land governance, agricultural investments and mining that are consistent with international standards with particular emphasis on the human right to adequate food through responsible agricultural investments in the country.
On his part, the Deputy Mayor of Bo City Council, David J.N Smart, expressed gratitude for the testimonies given by women from different districts on how the organization has empowered them over the years.
He said that land is very important but said people have been too complacent with traditional leaders and laws on land issues in the country, adding that land ownership is a human rights issue and refusing women to own lands means that they have been denied of their fundamental human right.
The Deputy Mayor said that for far too long so many people in the past have suffered from injustices related to land issues in the country especially women, but said he is with the strong conviction that with the testimonies from women about the work of Land for Life Sierra Leone, the sufferings people undergo, especially women, will become a thing of the past.
The International Program Coordinator of Land for Life, Anna Schreiber applauded the initiative for the launching of Land for Life Sierra Leone as an independent organization. She said that land is very important and without land it will be too difficult to attain food security.
She further described the launch of the organization as a very timely intervention towards addressing land governance issues in the country and went further to say that for a country to discuss food security they need to take cognizance of land rights.
Anna Schreiber commended the Government of Sierra Leone for the enactment of land laws in the country, but said without the implementation of those laws it makes no value of which she used the opportunity to call for the implementation of the land laws in the country.
The National Coordinator, Land for Life Initiative Sierra Leone, Berns Komba Lebbie , said that for the next five years the organisation has identified its strategic goals and priorities which are effective land governance for national food security and poverty reduction, adding that the strategy has three strategic priority areas which include enacted land laws are implemented, institutional strengthening and right to food.
He disclosed that as an organisation they want to play a significant role in the popularization of the new land laws, to continue with the promotion of multi-stakeholder decision making process on land, the advancement of community rights, the promotion of peace in investment communities and later to coordinate community actions in the national food security drive, furthering that those plans are already enshrined in their five-year strategy plan.
Giving a testimony, one of the beneficiaries, Kadiatu Tholley from Port Loko District, expressed appreciation to Land for Life Initiative Sierra Leone for their interventions over the years which she said has supported women greatly in the aspect of accessing land rights.
She said that prior to the implementation of the project community stakeholders were bulling women on land issues but said with the implementation of the project she and other women have been empowered on land governance issues in the country.
Other dignities present at the ceremony, including the Country Director of Welthungerhilfe (WHH), the National Chairman Family Farming Platform, sponsors etc delivered very informative and relevant statements.
