TITLE:
The Political Economy of Ganta City’s Post-Conflict Land Disputes
AUTHORS:
Teeko T. Yorlay
KEYWORDS:
Economic Revolution, Geo-Strategic, Post-Conflict, Land Disputes, Economic, Political
JOURNAL NAME:
Voice of the Publisher,
Vol.10 No.2,
June
27,
2024
ABSTRACT: This paper analyzes the post-conflict land disputes in Ganta City, Nimba County, and presents a picture of how the land disputes in the city have been driven by the interplay of political, economic, war-related, and socio-cultural factors. It presents the historical underpinnings of the land disputes, why some of the land disputes have been prolonged, the geo-economic value of the disputed land, why there continues to exist negative peace in the city, how the actual story and history of the pre-war ownership are, among other endogenous and exogenous factors. The data used to inform this paper was drawn from 103 persons who directly participated in this study. Sixty persons participated in the interviews, while 43 participated in the eight focus group discussions. The results show that before the First Liberian Civil War kicked off on December 24, 1989, significant parts of the main streets in the city were occupied by ethnic Mandingo merchants who used those spots for commercial purposes. As the two Liberian Civil Wars raged, they fled into refugee and displaced camps. When the Second Liberian Civil War subsided and things normalized, predominantly Mandingo refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) returned and met plots of land they have known and claimed to be theirs occupied. Some of the occupants were illegally authorized by the Ganta City Cooperation to settle on the parcels of land, while others settled on some on their own. Owing to the economic and other benefits some of the occupants had begun to accrue from being on the land, they found it difficult to easily leave. Some have taken an interest in either procuring the occupied land, while others have negotiated their stay through long leases. Resultantly, an economic revolution has taken place in the city. Business-minded elements of the Dan and Mah ethnic groups have taken charge of the city’s commerce, especially along the main streets, and are playing domineering or leading roles in the economy of the city, while their Mandingo compatriots who previously dominated commerce in the city center operate on the periphery.