By Saio Marrah
The World Bank through the International Development Association (IDA) has granted a total of 41.1 million dollars to the government of Sierra Leone to support the establishment of an efficient and accessible land administration system in Sierra Leone.
This was revealed on the bank’s website on Thursday 2nd June 2022. The project, for which the fund is being disbursed, was expected to help strengthen the country’s legal and institutional framework in the sector by financing the implementation of the core aspects of the 2015 National Land Policy, including the registration of customary and freehold land tenure.
The project will not just support legal reforms, awareness-raising on land sector reforms, and significant capacity building for land administration functions, it will also support the establishment of appropriate ICT infrastructure and business processes re-engineering.
The fund is also meant for the development of a modern Land Information System (LIS) for automation of land administration processes, digitization of paper archives, containing deeds and cadastral maps, also provide base maps and a geodetic network, and enabling the registration of customary and freehold land to strengthen tenure security.
The Minister of Lands, Housing, and Country Planning, Dr. Turad Senesie, while manifesting his appreciation over the grant, told politico that there is currently a chaotic situation in land administration and management in Sierra Leone. He admitted there are skills gaps in the Ministry and that the project seeks to address those gaps.
He also said: “Record management is a major factor, especially land records. This is a result of the fact that record management is manual and beset with fraud, forgery are pervasiveness. He said digitalisation of land will throw actors out of documents forgery business and ‘’make land grabbing a non-lucrative business”.
He added: “The new system will allow the public to verify land ownership with a click of a button be it a cell phone or your computer from anywhere around the globe. Ease of doing business in Sierra Leone will be enhanced when once we implement this project”.
The World Bank Country Manager for Sierra Leone, Abdu Muwonge, was quoted in the statement on the institution’s website saying: “We believe that the project’s support towards an efficient and accessible land administration system, will have a transformative impact on the economy and society as a whole as well as positive impacts on agriculture productivity, urban development, own-source revenue generation, and gender equality”.
He added: “The World Bank is therefore pleased to support the Sierra Leone Land Administration Project because effective and efficient land management systems reduce the risk of conflicts and offer opportunities for investments, which is critical for Sierra Leone’s economic development and poverty reduction’’.
The Land Administration Specialist and Task Team Leader, Linus Pott described it as the first major investment in Sierra Leone’s land administration system since independence and that they are particularly excited that the project was prepared in close collaboration with the government and civil society, based on the globally agreed-upon principles of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests (VGGT).
Sierra Leone operates a dual land tenure system where land in the Western Area is administered under freehold tenure while land in the provinces is covered by customary tenure system. World bank assessments revealed that only a tiny percentage of land in the rural and urban areas are mapped and recorded while institutional arrangements are “opaque.”
The country’s legal framework for the land sector is not aligned with new technologies or principles of modern land administration and does not address women’s land ownership or land use rights adequately.
The project is therefore said to be seeking to ensure equal tenure rights and access to land for women and girls by addressing the outdated legal framework, thereby closing identified legal gaps, and updating and harmonizing the legal framework for the land administration sector.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (06/06/22)
