Parliament of Sierra Leone on Monday, August 8, 2022 and passed into law with some amendments, the bills entitled, ‘The Customary Land Right Act 2022’ and “National Land Commission Act, 2022”.
The Customary Land Right Act 2022 seeks to provide for the protection of customary land rights, the elimination of discrimination under customary law, and the management and administration of land subject to customary law, and other related matters.
The bill when signed by the President will repeal “The 1927 Protectorate Land Ordinance Cap 122”, which prevents a non-native (Krio) from owning lands in the provinces.
Clause 4 (1) of the bill states: “A citizen shall not be refused the right to hold, use or elimination of acquired land that is subject to customary law based on that citizen’s (a) gender (b) tribe (c) religion (d) ethnicity (e) age (f) marital status (g) social status or (h) economic status”. The bill proposes that every Sierra Leonean despite their tribe should be able to own land in any part of the country if they wish to do so.
The National Land Commission Act 2022, seeks to provide for the establishment of the National Land Commission, and other land administrative bodies to secure effective and holistic land administration and to provide for other related matters.
Earlier, the dual bills were debated by Members of Parliament bringing out their importance towards the development of the lands tenure system and administration for the country.
The Minister of Land, Housing, and Country Planning, Dr. Turad Senesie piloted the enactment of the dual Bills.
By Fatima Kpaka