The Chief’s Diary: A transformational revolution in Sierra Leone you may not be aware of – Land Reform and Land Rights
Yesterday I met with the senior leadership of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning and the National Lands Commission to discuss some updates in the sector including the Sierra Leone Land Administration Project (SLLAP).
To learn more about this six-year US$41m World Bank IDA grant project, read here- https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P177031
One thing President Bio has transformed in Sierra Leone is the issue of bringing governance closer to the people. Central to this is removing colonial laws and writing new ones that promote equity, inclusivity and sustainable development. The Lands sector is one thats undergoing silent but transformational progress. Here are two examples.
1. The Sierra Leone Customary Land Rights Act (https://www.parliament.gov.sl/uploads/acts/THE%20CUSTOMARY%20LAND%20RIGHTS%20ACT,%202022.pdf). Prior to 2022, a single woman could not own land in Sierra Leone without the consent of a man. Not everyone could buy and own land. Land rights was discriminatory. Today, gender inclusion is central to ownership of land. Land means money, power and more. If women couldn’t own land, how then could we have said we lived in a just society? I encourage everyone to read the law and appreciate the transformational reforms undertaken by Bio’s government.
2. National Land Commission Act (https://www.parliament.gov.sl/uploads/acts/THE%20NATIONAL%20LAND%20COMMISSION%20ACT,%202022.pdf). There are many amazing things in this Commission Act but I want to highlight the National Land Registry (which will be digitized) and the Town/Village Land Committee. These two things will transform society in fundamental ways by declogging the courts, reducing security and violence issues in communities and ensuring economic development is secure.
The Ministry of lands has digitized several of its services for citizens even as it prepares to launch a land management information system and land grievance systems for all. The sector is heavily investing in technology, regulation and infrastructure to ensure that the challenges experienced in Sierra Leone for past 100 years will be a thing of the past for our children. Housing policy? Housing Act? Updated building codes? Title registration? Adjudication Act? Land title Act? They are all coming soon!
You may not see these kinds of progress with your eyes, but you can feel them in how development happens, how the economy grows and how every citizen is given an opportunity to live in a more society irrespective of their gender, age, ethnicity, religion, marital or social status. That’s good governance. That’s #RadicalInclusion. Together #WeAreDelivering.
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