By Alpha Abu
Members of the Land Complaints Committee set up by the Minister of Lands, Housing and Country Planning by Dr. Turad Senessie, say they have already completed investigating 50 cases from Dr. Dennis Sandi’s administration and will forward their findings to the government for appropriate action.
According to reports, there are some 500 disputed land cases to be looked into by the commission.
The officials who were addressing journalists at the Bank Complex facility at Kingtom in Freetown where they conduct sittings on the numerous land cases in the Western Area, say they have realised that some people who have pending cases are trying to beat the system by stepping up construction work on contested sites without the committee sitting on those cases.
The Committee Chairman Alhaji Murtada Sesay said people have been deliberately speeding up work on the structures in anticipation that once the buildings were completed, the outcome of any judgement would ultimately favour them because of the resources they would have poured in. Such a notion, Alhaji Sesay cautioned, was totally misleading, and asserted the committee will go ahead with its investigations and make its findings known to the authorities.
According to the officials, the committee sits on only matters related to state lands and not private properties.
Dr. Senessie’s predecessor Dennis Sandi had some tumultuous moments in office as Minister of Lands, with people claiming to have been unfairly treated over land matters. The new Minister in his first press conference in February 2021 promised to address the numerous land disputes in the western area covering the period April 2018 to January 2021. He encouraged the people to forward their cases to the Land Complaints Committee that was his brainchild. The committee is made up of eminent Sierra Leoneans from various backgrounds. They do not pass judgement but submit their findings to the government. The Lands Ministry in February 2021 placed a moratorium on all dealings over state lands in the western area, with exception given only to foreign embassies or missions that may want to use land for investment purposes.
The end of the civil conflict in 2002 brought about a rush for land acquisition particularly in the western area where Freetown is located. There have since been very bitter feuds for possession of many of the lands, with some people killed in violent confrontations. Successive ministers have over the years struggled to sanitise the system and have all faced barrage of accusations including high handedness, indecisiveness and misuse of power in addressing disputed land matters.
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