Chiefs and traditional leaders under the National Traditional Council of Liberia (NTCL) recently threatened to vote out senators who will concur with lawmakers in the House to pass the Land Rights Act (LRA), which the members of the Lower House have already passed into law, but sent to the Senate for concurrence. The chiefs’ influence, according to him, was exhibited on October 10, 2017 when they ensured that some lawmakers who publicly supported the passage of the Land Rights Act were not reelected. Mary Garnett, 30, a resident of Todee, Lower Montserrado County said she did not cast her vote for any of the defeated representative candidates, because one of them allegedly helped to tamper with the Land Rights Act. She said her father’s hope of securing his land after many years was dashed by the lawmakers’ decision to omit essential portions of the Land Rights Act that guaranteed communities rights to their lands. “Our vote is the only power we have so we used it to voice our anger over the failure of our lawmakers to serve our interest,” said Mary.

Source: Daily Observer December 28, 2017 02:15 UTC