By Marius Musa Kargbo
A major debate over land ownership in Sierra Leone has intensified after Lands Minister Dr. Turad Senessie and solicitor Chukwuemeka Taylor presented contrasting interpretations of the country’s land ownership and title system on AYV’s State of the Nation.
At the centre of the discussion is whether citizens who hold survey plans and conveyances can legally regard themselves as absolute owners of land, or whether formal title registration is required to establish ownership.
Dr. Senessie maintained that the land comprising Sierra Leone is vested in the state, with the government of the day exercising authority over the territory on behalf of its people.
“The land called Sierra Leone belongs to the state, and the government of the day exercises authority over that state on behalf of its people.”
He further argued that possessing a land paper does not, by itself, establish absolute ownership, stressing that a title certificate is the key document for formally establishing title.
“If you rely on your survey plan and your conveyance to claim ownership, you do not have absolute ownership. The proper system should have started with a land register and the issuance of a title certificate before ownership was transferred.”
Dr. Senessie said Sierra Leone’s land governance system had not been properly structured in the past, but argued that the current reforms provide an opportunity to correct those gaps.
“We have not done it right in the past, and it is now that we have the opportunity to do it right.”
However, solicitor Chukwuemeka Taylor challenged the broader interpretation that all land in Sierra Leone presently belongs to the state. Referring to the State Lands Act of 1960, he focused on the word “acquired”, arguing that the legislation recognises land acquired by the state through treaties, agreements, conventions and other legal processes.
“The operative word is ‘acquired’. If all land already belonged to the state, there would be no need for the state to acquire it from individuals or pay compensation.”
Taylor argued that individuals who lawfully acquired land can hold and transfer interests in that land.
“The fact that the government acquires land for public purposes does not mean that every parcel of land is automatically state-owned. Where individuals have lawfully acquired land from the state, that land can be held and transferred by those individuals.”
He further maintained that the absence of comprehensive registration does not necessarily mean that existing rights in land do not exist.
“Legislation does not confer title on you. What it does is provide further validation of rights that people already have. The fact that those rights have not been registered does not mean that they do not exist.”
The discussion has brought renewed attention to Sierra Leone’s land administration system, particularly the distinction between state land, land acquired by individuals, land tenure, conveyance and registered title.
The contrasting positions presented on AYV’s State of the Nation have placed land ownership and title registration firmly at the centre of the national conversation, with questions remaining over how existing land rights will be treated under the evolving registration system.
