Women Right to Land Liberia

8/12/2019 Women Right to Land Liberia

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INTRODUCTION

Liberia is a country coming out of a conflict that affected the lives of many especially women

and children. In December of 1989, the country began on a path of civil war that lasted until2005 when a democratic government was elected. The war left the Liberia totally

devastated and it was referred to as a failed state. Many lives were lost, institutionsdestroyed, hundreds of thousands people became refugees and internally displaced

especially those from the rural areas. Many have yet to return home because they haveestablished roots in other countries or counties. Today, Liberians have begun on the path of

rebuilding the country and are grappling with a myriad of issues of a post conflict society:

poor infrastructure, weak institutions, poverty, group conflicts, security and most importantof all land conflict. These issues find their roots in the scarcity of resources and its

distribution within the society.

In 2007, the Governance Commission, in accordance with its mandate, began discussionwith government agencies, national and international organizations issues of land reform in

Liberia. The general issue on land reform begins with how land ownership was established in

Liberia. To address this issue, the following instruments were reviewed, namely: the

Constitution, Property Law, the Decedent Estate Law, the Inheritance Law and the Lawsgoverning the Hinterland, amongst others. As Liberia moves forward from the difficulties of

its past, it is our hope that some if not all of the problems and obstacles will be addressedand resolved to the benefit of its people especially women and children and that women willbe a part of the resolution of these problems/obstacles.

National demographics:

Liberia is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa besides Ethiopia that has never beencolonized. Liberia is one of the oldest African Republics, but on the other hand it is newcoming out of many years of conflict. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is determined to put

these unpleasant years behind us and under her leadership, many developments haveemerged and are still emerging especially with respect to women and women rights. Beforethe civil conflict, the population of Liberia was 1.5 million. Presently, the population ofLiberia according the 2008 census conducted by LIGIS is 3,489.072 and is growing at an

annual rate of 2.1%. According to the 2008 census, women make up about 49% of thepopulation. This growth is influenced by five factors: (i) high fertility rate (ii) the largepopulation of women of reproductive age (iii) the practice of early marriage (iv) the practice

of polygamy and (v) the low use of contraceptive. From the result of the census taken in

2008, it is very clear that majority of the population lives in the urban area and mainly inMontserrado County where the capital Monrovia is seated. This large population explosion inthe urban area is also due to the migration of people from the rural areas to the urban

areas during the civil crisis. Therefore it is safe to say that over half of the population livesin the urban areas. However, the present Government is taking steps to ensure that people

return to the rural areas by sending development to those areas.

Overview of the Countrys economy and tenure system

Liberia being a small country with a population of almost 3.5 million, has a per capital ofUSD 765 at purchasing power parity. Its domestic market is small. The IMF country reportfound much to commend the government for its recent economic performance. However,

there exist many problems one of which is unemployment. Unemployment has remained the


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amendment and revision of the constitution should reflect and ensure for the participation ofwomen in Government and political parties and; that laws governing prevention of all types

of violence and discrimination against women are enacted, amended and enforced.. Withthis in mind, several laws have been identified for possible amendment including but not

limited to the Constitution, the Inheritance Law, Domestic Relations Law, Education law,Labor Laws and the Hinterland regulation. Other laws are also being introduced for

enactment in keeping with the Liberian National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 and 1820.

Women access, use and control over land

The Liberian Constitution currently deals with property ownership under sections 22, 23 and

24. More particularly, section 22 and 23 guarantees that every person shall have the rightto own property alone as well as in association with others; provided that only Liberiancitizens shall have the right to own real property within the Republic and the property

which a person possesses at the time of marriage or which may afterwards be acquired as a

result of ones own labors shall not beheld for or otherwise applied to liquidation ..nor

shall the property which by law is to be secured to a man or a woman be alienated or becontrolled by that persons spouse save by free and voluntary consent. On the face of it,

this should guarantee women and men equal rights in property ownership and one canassume that opportunities and spaces for women to acquire and own property are the sameas men. The reality may be far from this. The Liberia Demographic and Health Survey

(LDHS 2007) results show that the majority of Liberians have little education, with females

much less educated than males, 42% of the women and 18% of men have never attendedany school, and while 19% of men have completed secondary school or higher only 8% ofwomen have accomplished the same. The stark difference in education levels for men and

women would translate into earning income and property buying power. Further, 37% ofhousehold heads throughout Liberia own property such as land. This proportion is the samefor both urban and rural areas and is slightly higher among males than female heads of

household at 38% and 35% respectively.

As the forces of liberalization take a grip on Liberia, one can assume that more men willengage in the property market particularly in the urban areas as well as the semi urban.

This is due to the fact that more men than women are educated and have the financialcapacity to do so as compared to women. The Constitution should bring fairness in theownership of property and provide for property obtained in a marital relationships as well as

cohabitation relationships. This is to be done in recognition of the different kinds of labor

contributions, services as well as the other various social, economic, and cultural dynamicsthat spouses bring to a marital contract.

We will now move the discussion to the Equal Rights of the Customary Marriage under theInheritance Law of 1998. The above-mentioned law revolutionized the concept of property

ownership in marriage, devolution of the same upon the death of the spouse and In somany ways, it is a dream law for women who marry under the customary law. It made

illegal various tribal practices. For example at custom, a woman retains her rights to land ifshe remained with her husbands family and a widow who chooses to leave her husbands

family forfeits her access to his house and his familys land and most importantly, leaves

behind her children. Under the Equal Rights of the Customary Marriage Law of 1998,spouses from traditional marriages can inherit from their husbands estate just as spousesmarried under statutory law. This law repeals the customary law position with respect to

distribution of estate and the equal rights of women to property.


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The new law also gives the wives of customary marriages the right to make a last will and

testament disposing of her property, the right to keep the children following the death ofher husband, the right to determine whether to remain in the home or not, the right not to

remain in the family of her deceased husband or to marry a kin after the death of thehusband, the right of entitlement to one-third of the husbands property upon marriage or

upon his death regardless of whether she aided him in acquiring the property or not, whileat the same time, retaining the right to retain her property acquired before or after

marriage and imposing on her no obligation to share such property with him and grants the

wife the right to seek redress in a court of law for any violation of her human or otherrights. Over and above property rights, the law also declares certain customary practices

(such as regarding the wife to be a chattel of the husband and therefore not entitled to

inherit any of his property) invalid. Studies have revealed that the indigenous or ruralwomen are now expressing concerns about the fact that all of the spouses are entitled tothe same share in the property although some never labor for any of the property. They are

now requesting that the Inheritance Act be reviewed along with the Domestic Relations Law,

the Decedents Estates Law, and the Customary Law to reflect some of their concerns for

better harmonization.

Women and Access to Justice

In order for a law to be effective and serve its intended purpose, an examination of the

justice delivery system is important. Is it accessible? Accessibility in this respect can belooked at from a number of areas. Are courts paced within reasonable distances to wherepeople live? If they are not; do the people have resources and finances to get to the courts?

Are court procedures users friendly? Do they use the language of the people who access it?Women lack of funding is one of the reasons they shun these courts. The procedures andthe structure of the courts can be rigid and slow and therefore discourage and intimidate

even the most enthusiastic litigator particularly if the litigator is a woman. In Liberia, thejudiciary has set up Court E, which is aimed at dealing exclusively with sexual relatedoffences. This means that all sexual offences cases from Court A, B and C have beentransferred to this court. This court has now been centralized. Unfortunately, what it means

is that it is now choked with business. The cases transferred from other courts to this courtfrom its inception were many thereby overloading this court like other courts. Further, therewere new cases filed with the court making its overturn very slow. Whilst efforts by this

court to make the wheels of justice mover faster, there is an inherent challenge within the

justice delivery system which makes everything go slow. The main reason for this lag in thejustice system itself and It is our hope that it will improve in the future.

Women Organization

The Ministry of Gender and Development is the arm of Government responsible for Gender

affairs especially women affairs. It is also the regulatory agency of government responsiblefor the implementation and regulation of women organizations in Liberia. With the help of

its international partners, the Ministry provides programs and projects for women

organizations and makes sure women issues are brought to the forefront. There are manywomen organizations working in the interest of women but the problem are that thefunctions of these organizations overlaps and the result is that many women are not

benefiting from the programs designed for them. Few organizations such as the Association


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Documents

Women Right to Land Liberia