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Trócaire partner, Network Movement for Justice and Development, hailed the new laws as “globally unprecedented”
Trócaire partners NMJD and Green Scenery organised a walk to parliament in Sierra Leone in support of the new land bills. Photo: Trócaire
It is a struggle that communities across the world face; stopping companies from grabbing their lands, forcing them to relocate and destroying their lands.
But in Sierra Leone, the rules are about to change drastically.
Sierra Leone’s parliament has passed two new laws that will help boost the rights of rural landowners and women against land grabs by big mining and agribusiness firms.
The Customary Land Rights Act and the Land Commission Act, both enacted in August, empower local landowners to negotiate the value of their land. Companies operating in Sierra Leone will have to obtain the consent of local communities before starting mining, industrial or farming activities. Local land owners will also be able to veto any projects and the Sierra Leone government will have to help pay for any legal fees that the local communities incur in negotiations.
Trócaire partner, Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), who advocated for and worked on the Bill, hailed the new laws as “globally unprecedented”.
“Although they are only first steps in a long road to organise and modernise Sierra Leone’s land governance sector, the two laws offer distinct benefits. The 2022 National Land Commission Act establishes a land commission that will function as an operational arm of the Ministry of Land, as well as several decentralised level structures. It takes an inclusive, gender-sensitive and participatory approach. As a result of this law, all lands will be titled and registered through a state-run real-time information and cadastral system.”
“The 2022 Customary Land Rights Act is aimed at protecting customary land rights, organising and harmonising customary land governance in the provinces. To address the problem of gender-based discrimination, it establishes women’s right to own and use family land on an equal footing with their male relatives.”
Trócaire partners NMJD and Green Scenery organised a walk to parliament in Sierra Leone in support of the new land bills. Photo: Trócaire
At least 20% of Sierra Leone’s arable land is currently leased to foreign businesses for mining, large-scale agriculture, and other development ventures. As in many countries, negotiations between investors and the communities whose land they seek are fraught with deep power imbalances and undermined by weak regulations.
The results can be devastating — for the people and the environment. Livelihoods are often destroyed, water sources polluted, and forests cut down.
In Sierra Leone, women have also traditionally faced constraints in accessing and controlling land for subsistence farming activities. The two new land acts aim to address this issue by ensuring that women and men can jointly register land ownership.
Trócaire partner, Green Scenery, provided advocacy and training on the content of the Land Bills for the three Women Farmers Networks in Port Loko, Kambia and Bombali.
Suad Woobay, President of the Women’s Unite Network-Kambia, said that “finally our dream has been fulfilled”.
“We are now assured of the protection of our rights to own land as women. All the intimidation and discrimination against women for land have been laid to rest because we now have a legal document which we can use to fight for our rights.”
