Liberia: 22 Affected Communities File Historic Petition for Declaratory Judgment against Salala Rubber Corporation and the Liberian Government

Oct 24, 2022 | FrontPage Africa
View Original

Residents of 22 indigenous Kpelle communities, dispossessed of their customary land, cultural sites, and livelihoods, have filed a groundbreaking legal action against the Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC) and the Liberian Government.  Their lawsuit seeks a declaration that they retain ownership of their traditional lands despite the government’s decision to grant a concession to rubber plantation companies in 1959.  If successful, they could set a legal precedent by undermining a decades-old land law that erased indigenous people’s land rights countrywide without due process or compensation.