Sinoe Lawmaker opposes foreigners owning properties

He told journalists Capitol Hill Monday, 21 May that if “we” give the rights to foreigners or Non-Negro-decent to own properties here amidst poverty, they will buy all the lands.

He says foreigners will even purchase Liberia in a day time, and two or three generations from now, all Liberians will have no space to own anything here. He raises fears that majority of Liberians are poor and do not have the capacity to financially compete with foreigners, thus pledging not to give support to Non- Negros owning land here.

According to Rep. Duncan, government should think about empowering its people so that there can be Liberian millionaires competing with foreign millionaires. He said if there is competition between Liberians and outside forces, then such request can be greeted with opened arms.

But he believes that it is too hasty to have a law in Liberia that grants the right to foreigners or Non-Negros- decent to own lands. President Weah in his first annual address to the Legislature criticized the constitutional limitation [Article 22 (a) ] on land ownership as impeding and stunting Liberia’s growth and development.

Mr. Weah believes that no foreign investor will be willing to make significant direct investments here if they cannot own property. He argued that Liberians are freed to purchase property in any part of the world as non-citizens, but he found that the Liberian Constitution and laws will not allow similar privilege to be accorded to the citizens of other nations.

But Rep. Duncan believes that it is rational to pass the aspect of the law that has to do with the dual citizenship, because there are lot of brains, doctors, lawyers, computer scientists who are Liberians who traveled and took other citizenships due to the war here. “This is good, the dual-citizenship can be tolerated by our people. These people need to come back home and invest,” he says.

By Bridgett Milton–Edited by Winston W. Parley