By Amin Kef Sesay
On the 7th May 2021, the Lands Complaints Committee, which was established by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning, with specific mandate to look into land disputes that occurred from April 2018 to January 2021, met with members of the Fourth Estate at the Bank of Sierra Leone Complex, which is also where the Secretariat of the Committee is hosted.
Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Murtada Sesay, intimated that it has come to their notice that certain individuals in conflict over disputed properties are deliberately continuing to develop the said contested lands/ properties despite the fact that such matters are before the Committee.
“They are apparently doing so thinking that will affect any decision the Committee might come up with,” he furthered adding that the Committee is warning all those concerned to desist from such action also maintaining that no matter the size and value of such controversial investments justice will ultimately be dispensed without fear or favour.
He emphatically informed that all concerned are therefore admonished to be patient with the Committee which, he said, is working diligently to resolve pending matters.
Alhaji Murtada Sesay continued by stating that they want to continue to assure the public of their continued commitment to bringing out the truth in all complaints before the Committee.
He outlined the various strategies that the Committee is using to go about their work, some of which are paying site visits to places where there are land disputes, engaging the right stakeholders to get the real facts.
He encouraged members of the public, who lay claims on what is considered as State Lands, to submit their complaints with all their relevant documents to members of the Committee at the Bank Complex.
On her part, another member of the Lands Complaints Committee, Dr. Tuma Adama Gento-Kamara revealed that the jurisdiction of the Committee is limited to lands within the Western area. She informed that in doing their work they do take into consideration due diligence by conducting a thorough search to find out whether the documents submitted are really authentic.
Dr. Tuma Adama Gento-Kamara made it categorically clear that they are only dealing with State lands and not private lands adding that in a situation where an individual may have acquired a State land in the wrong way, developed it and later it is discovered that such is the case there is the likelihood for the individual to regularize the situation with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning.
“Despite the fact that a dispute resolution has been set up to address the overwhelming concerns raised by the public over the manner in which lands were administered or allocated certain individuals have embarked on massive unauthorized construction,” she lamented but noted that such will not deter them from doing the right things.
She also intimated that when they pay site visits, during their fact finding missions, they are accompanied by a thin security personnel, who are police officers, stating that they do not use military personnel. “We do not want to appear too intimidating and create panic in communities because that will be counterproductive to our operations,” she also disclosed.
She pointed out that most of the laws that relate to land issues are archaic and therefore there is the need to review them in order to ensure that there is sanity within the land sector.
“After completing our assignment of looking into the various complaints that were submitted to us we will then put all our recommendations together and submit them to the Government for appropriate action to be instituted,” she stated adding that there is the need for members of the public to be educated on land issues which, according to her, could help in minimizing the spate of land disputes within the Wester Area.
She told newsmen that the 9-man Committee is very independent assuring that they will try as best as possible to live up to the expectation of the public further underscoring that they are working in the best interest of public.
Another member of the Committee, representing the Bar Association, informed that so far they have received up to about two hundred (200) cases and thoroughly dealt with fifty (50).
Members of the Committee are drawn from various walks of life including the Sierra Leone Bar Association, Civil Society Organizations, the Creole Descendants Union etc.
A question and answer session climaxed the Press engagement.
