By: Julius Konton
IPNEWS: Residents of Dixville Township In District #11 Montserrado County have been alarmed over constant fear due to a disputed land crisis within their community.
The disputed land in question according to them is about 11.5 acres which was originally bought by the late Mother Victoria Young, former owner of the Fatima Cottage orphanage home in Dixville Township from the current claimer’s Mother.
Explaining to reporters on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, Marpu Young daughter of the late Mother Victoria Young said her Mother came from SassTown in Grand Kru County and established the mission in 1971 in the Dixville Township with the disputed land deeded in the name of Fatima Cottage Orphanage home and wonder where George Wleh, a son to the woman whom her mother bought the land came from to claim the land.
Madam Marpu Young said since George Wleh started his alleged ownership of the land issue, they have been living in constant fear and no peace as such she called on the President of Liberia George Weah who was present at the burial of her late mother, and others relevant authorities to see the need and intervene into the crisis in order to have it finally resolved.
” I am sad and disturbed about this land issue, I am also not well, let the court do the needful because we are tired of living in fear”, she added.
Also speaking to reporters on the disputed land issue was one of the residents and victim, Lewis S.W. Pyne Sr. who stressed that Land Matter and or Land issue is a serious National security concern and needs to be addressed in a timely manner and form.
He said as they as residents of the community continue to pursue the case to its logical conclusion and in a legal manner, they will also continue to remain peaceful and calm.
Narrating his personal experience about the disputed land issue with George Wleh, he alleged that his wife was also beaten by men of Mr. Wleh because, Mr. Pyne is not their target but is in the constant hobbit of defending his community dwellers in the name of his neighbors as such, they allegedly threatened to get him out of the picture.
As a result of the fighting, one person from Wleh’s end was arrested by the police because CC TV photos prove that the act was committed, and charged with assault, a criminal act as well as theft of property and the matter up till press time since January 28, 2023 is still ongoing ” he told reporters.
“In September of 2022, George Wleh and his people came to my home and said the land was theirs but I read to them the Land Right Law of 2018, article 22 which among other things states that to acquire private land one should have a chain of title, your grantor deed and copies of your receipts all of which I have and displayed to them and said to them that their parents sold the land to me, so it is no longer yours”, he noted.
Speaking further, he said while they were awaiting the March term of court to go into the matter, Mr. Wleh brought an investigative survey notice with the letter Head caption as the Liberia Land Authority but when he did a follow-up to verify the documents, the Land Authority official said the document was a complete fraud, however, it is alleged that it is that document which, George Wleh is using to sell land in the area and creating confusion and panic among residents within the area.
On Today, May 16, 2023, George Wleh came to do a survey but was prevented on grounds that the document was fake, Mr. Pyne informed reporters.
Moreover, he stated that to do an investigative survey, not an ordinary survey, there must be certain credentials to be met to include, including an assigned registered land and legal surveyor from the Liberia Land Authority, a proper facts finding must be conducted including statistics before the process can begin, something he noted was not done by George and his team as such, the survey was not conducted.
According to him, George is claiming the Land from the Bridge that divides Barnesville and Dixville to the Public School on the main road, which in his mind is unbelievable.
As for Odell Martin and one of the chairmen of Block D area within the same Township, they claimed that Mr. Wleh is hiding behind the fake document to sell more lands within the area and is causing serious problems for them.
They also claimed that George most often does not go to court whenever he is invited but keeps doing his illegal land sale as such called for the national government to intervene in a timely manner and form.
” If the Barnesville court can’t handle the case, let them forward it to the higher court so we can once again live in peace because at the moment, our lives are in danger and we worried daily, the lower court is delaying on the matter too much”, they explained.
When contacted, George Wleh claimed that the land belongs to his family.
Unlike the Young family, George claimed that the land in question is 27.25 Acres contrary to 11.5 acres as disclosed by the Fatima Cottage orphanage home land deed.
George Wleh son of the Mother who allegedly and originally sold the land to the late Mother Victoria Young, former owner of the Fatima Cottage Orphanage Home is also a former officer of the Liberia National Police once assigned at the Johnsonville police station who was disrobed for assault and other unwholesome acts by Justice Minister Cllr. Frank Musa Dean.
Unlike George, a member of his family who spoke to reporters in the person of Augustine Jallah confirmed that the matter is in court but maintained that they have all rights to go ahead with the continuous land sale because, they are in his words, the legitimate owners of the disputed land.
According to him, the Fatima Cottage Orphanage home people do not have a lawyer and it is Mr. Pyne who he described and alleged as showing up in the entire matter even though he (Mr. Pyne) is a resident of the community and a party to the case.
He at the same time dispel rumors of beaten people and causing confusion on the land but admitted that they are always on the land site to do a survey and to sell land as further indicated by the other party.
Well, both parties have displayed documents showing legitimate ownership of the disputed land, however, the acres in question, 11.5 as disclosed by the Young family and 27.25 acres as indicated by the Wleh’s family now appears to be the sticky issue as only the court can decide on the matter in order to bring the matter to its logical conclusion.
Meanwhile, Mr. Wleh did not deny nor confirmed if the investigative surveyor noticed he is currently using a legal or authentic document as the Liberia Land Authority has described it as fake, a fraud, and a criminal act and is now in much of him.
