Chief Justice-Designate Wants Equitable Land Distribution -Says It Will Enhance National Healing, Reconciliation

By H Matthew Turry

MONROVIA – Chief Justice-designate, Associate Justice Yamie QuiQui Gbeisay, has charged the Government of Liberia to ensure that “equitable land distribution” is made part and parcel of the its national healing and reconciliation.

Making remarks during the Liberia National Healing, Reconciliation and Unity program, held Saturday, July 5, 2025, justice Gbeisay asserted that in the absence of equal land distribution, there stands a potential coil of disunity that would someday ruin the peace of Liberia.

“One person has one thousand, or least to say, three hundred acres of land and asking people who occupy the land to go. So, where do they go, when they are Liberians?” Justice Gbeisay questioned.

The Associate Justice urged President Joseph Nyumah Boakai and all national leaders to consider an insight into what looms as a potential land dispute.

“If someone is claiming to have over one thousand acres of land and wants those who occupy that land over the years to leave, where do they go as Liberians?” he quipped. “Mr. President, that needs to be looked at as part of our reconciliation process.”

The Associate Justice Gbeisay hinted that the dockets of the Courts of Liberia are overwhelmed with cases emanating from land dispute, begging the urgency to address the land distribution as key to national healing and reconciliation.

Justice Gbeisay’s remarks sharply reflect a growing national dilemma that has gone largely unaddressed.

He stated: “The issue of land has always been sensitive in Liberia, but now it is increasingly becoming explosive, particularly as the nation attempts to rebuild trust and foster unity after years of civil unrest.”

It is evident that the courts are indeed overburdened with unresolved land disputes—many of which stem from decades-old claims, overlapping deeds, and lack of community land rights documentation.

Justice Gbeisay’s warning does not only echo courtroom realities but brings to public attention a crisis that is quietly unravelling social cohesion.

Moreover, the call to action directed at President Boakai is not just a legal matter—it is a political and humanitarian imperative.