-Women Plead With Gov’t Following Eviction Notice in Nimba
By: Shallon S. Gonlor | shallonsgonlor@gmail.com
NIMBA COUNTY, Liberia — Dozens of single mothers in Nimba County are pleading with President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s administration for compensation, amid government-ordered eviction from land they say they legally purchased and took years to build on. “If the government we voted can bring tears to our eyes today, where do we go?” Lovelyn B. Yenglee, a single mother of six asked.
Yenglee is among hundreds of residents of the New Barracks Community in Sanniquellie who have received eviction notices from the Ministry of National Defense ordering them to vacate properties the government claims belong to the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) Camp Grant Military Barracks. The residents, predominantly women who head households, insist they purchased their parcels through proper channels, paid for government surveys, and hold deeds attesting to their ownership.
“I’m not feeling fine because I’m a GB seller and I’ve invested my money in this land for over 18 years,” said Koo Meantuo, a mother of seven who depends on her land for farming and her GB selling business. She paid the Liberia Land Authority for a government survey, yet now faces displacement. The stress, she said, has made her sick. “I don’t have hope if I leave this place.”
Mamie Gaye’s health is already deteriorating. “My operation wound has reopened,” she said, attributing the setback to constant worry about where her family will go. Gaye rejected any suggestion that she occupies the land illegally. “Nobody gave me permission to be here, I’m not a squatter,” she said. “We don’t have a fight with the government, we just need fair treatment and resettlement.”
The women question how the government can now claim ownership of land they acquired through official processes. Alice Sehnwai, a single mother of four who sells groundnuts to support her children, paid $3,500 for a government survey 20 years ago and received a demarcation confirming her property boundaries with the army.
“It’s impossible the government surveyor who surveyed my land 20 years ago didn’t know it was government property,” Sehnwai said. She purchased the land in 2012 and said former Minister of National Defence Brownie Jeffery Samukai Jr. previously assured her her property was not on army land. While willing to relocate, she insisted on compensation. “I struggle as a single mother to build this home for my children. The government should prove ownership or relocate us.”
Victoria Tokpah, a mother of several children, called the situation a “total contradiction.” She paid for a government survey that confirmed her land was not army property. “I paid my money, and the Land Authority surveyed my land, saying I wasn’t part of the army property. Why now?” Tokpah asked. She appealed directly to President Boakai. “I’m willing to leave, but they should compensate me. It won’t be right if we leave it empty.”
The land dispute carries historical dimensions dating to the 1960s and 1970s, when the ‘Old Barracks’ served as Sanniquellie’s sole military installation. During the 1990s, former President William R. Tolbert acquired a smaller portion from the Joseph Seibey family—now known as ‘New Barracks’—for personal use. Former President Samuel K. Doe later seized the property, citing government ownership on grounds that Tolbert used public funds for the acquisition.
Today, local authorities and the Armed Forces of Liberia claim 32 acres of this land for infrastructure development. The AFL detachment in Nimba County has launched a fundraising campaign to secure US$170,000 for three major projects at Camp Grant: US$70,000 for a new high school, US$50,000 for a chapel, and US$50,000 for a recreational center.
Camp Grant Commander 1st Lieutenant T. Nathaniel Kollie said the facilities would serve both soldiers and the surrounding communities, acknowledging that while the government supports the army, it cannot meet every infrastructural need.
For the women of New Barracks, however, the military’s expansion plans threaten to erase the homes and lives they have built through years of struggle.
“We built this home so our children don’t end up on the streets,” Yenglee said. “We’re calling on our government to hear our cry and help us provide for our children.”
