By Mabinty M. Kamara
In an engagement with practitioners from across the print and electronic media in Freetown, the Land for Life Initiative Sierra Leone has urged them to focus on reporting on land governance and responsible agro-investment in the country.
The Communication and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Jacob Wilson noted that the media in Sierra Leone was yet to focus on reporting land governance issues which he said are affecting the rural population and especially women of Sierra Leone who have for long suffered as a result of bad land laws and decisions.
H, therefore urged journalists to develop an interest in the land sector which he said is critical for national development and peace.
Speaking at the engagement last Friday, the National Coordinator for the Land advocacy group Berns Komba Lebbie also noted that most of the land-related reports that are in the news are Western area focused, saying that the Western area accounts for a minimal percent of Sierra Leone’s total land mass.
He encouraged journalists to continue to follow up on the two bills, which are the Customary Land Right Bill and the Land Commission Bill that are before parliament for enactment into law.
Lebbie noted that the two bills when passed into law will address most of the contentious issues over land acquisition, administration, and management that have led to several disputes in the country such as the removal of barriers and discrimination against women’s land ownership, removing barriers of land ownership by citizens of the country regardless of tribe, religion, and political affiliation among others.
“These are the laws we want to see. We want lands to support life and ensure livelihood sustenance, promote women’s rights”, he said.
To achieve this, he said they will support journalists with a Resource Centre and training opportunities to widen their knowledge based on the principles of the Voluntary Guidelines and Governance of Tenure and other land rights laws, both local and international, to put them in a better position in reporting those issues.
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