By Mohamed Fofanah.
The Complaints Committee on Land Disputes in the Western Area yesterday announced that it has examined and proffer recommendations for 118 cases, representing 40 percent of all complaints the Committee has received from the general public.
Since its formation by the Government of Sierra Leone on March 10 this year, the Committee said it had received 305 complaints from the general public either directly submitted at its Kingtom work-center, via email, or a backlog that was already with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning submitted to them.
The Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Murtala Mohammed Sesay said the 40 per cent of cases that have been examined have helped them identified entrenched system-related issues that must be addressed as a priority, without elaborating on those issues.
Mr Sesay told journalists during a press briefing held at the Ministry of Lands that all 305 complaints have been put into case files and the remaining cases are all ready to be investigated soon, whilst working with the Ministry on the completion and implementation of the recommendations in their report which is expected to be presented to the Ministry in the coming days.
He was concerned that some disputants are surreptitiously developing the disputed lands with impunity amidst investigations. He noted that the extent of development on a disputed land would not be used as the sole criterion for resolution, requesting them to desist from what he called ‘blatant breach of the law.’
Following the formation of the Committee by the Government, Mr Sesay said there has been a moratorium on the issuance of approvals for leases, freeholds, and related documents to guide the Ministry of Lands with interim and credible information to make decisions henceforth.
Mr Sesay said the Committee has unearthed sufficient evidence-based information in which several systemic and institutional issues are identified to be largely involved in all the unacceptable happenings in the Ministry between April 2018 and January 2021.
“The Committee is in no doubt that if these organizational issues, both strategic and operational are addressed with commitment and sincerity, they will significantly contribute to turning the Ministry into a high-performance public service institution,” the Committee’s statement read.
