Chiefs, Land Owners Declare…
NO GENTO, NO MINING IN KASAFONI
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara (Kamalo)
Sierra Leone’s land tenure system is guided by law, vesting the exclusive ownership of provincial lands in the landowning families, and their tribal authorities being the custodians of such lands.
Section 33 Subsection 3(a) of the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022 further makes it mandatory for any company to first hold a legitimate land lease agreement with the relevant authorities before obtaining a large-scale mining license – a clear justification that landowners and tribal authorities have the exclusive right to their lands in the provinces where the mines fields are found.
It, however, sounds too unfortunate that the government authorities who should be preserving the laws of the land, and protecting the rights of citizens are the very ones counteracting such laws and render them useless, whilst infringing on the rights of their citizens. This brings to mind the ongoing controversy that has overwhelmed the rightful ownership of the iron ore-rich Kasafoni area in Tonkolili District, Northern Province of Sierra Leone.
The Sierra Leone Mines and Minerals Development and Management Corporation (SLMMDMC) has laid ownership claim on the Kasafoni Concession, citing the Minerals and Mines Development and Management Regulations of 2024 as lawfully and exclusively allocating the iron ore-rich area to the Corporation, and empowering it as the sole statutory authority to determine, manage, and authorise any development or mining activities in the Kasafoni area on behalf of the country.
Already, the Government has taken a position, backing the SLMMDMC in a public statement that it exclusively owns and controls the Kasafoni Concession.
“This deposit has been officially allocated to the Corporation by Cabinet and Parliament. No private company, individual, or traditional leader can lease, sell, or assign any rights over it…. This asset belongs to the Republic of Sierra Leone and is protected by law. The public is advised not to enter into any private agreements over it.
The Government has further warned that any unauthorised attempt to claim, lease, or operate in the Kasafoni area may result in legal action.
This is in vast conflict, contradiction, and inconsistence with Section 33 Subsection 3(a) of the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022, as well as the country’s land tenure system, that exclusively vest the provincial land ownership right in landowners and the tribal authorities – the Paramount Chiefs in particular.
Prior to the government’s public statement, the three Paramount Chiefs of Sambaia, Dandongoia, and Diang Chiefdoms, supposedly the custodians of the Tonkolili North Iron Ore Deposit located at Sula Mountain of Kasafoni, made it emphatically clear in a formal letter to the Minister of Mines and Minerals Resources, with other relevant authorities copie d, that in league with the landowners, they have signed a lease agreement with Gento Group of Companies for mining purposes in Kasafoni area.
The Paramount Chiefs affirmed that as custodians of Kasafoni area, they have together with the landowners in their Chiefdoms agreed and accepted the Gento Group of Companies to own the lease of the said land on the premise that the Group is fully a Sierra Leonean-owned company that could reverse the disrespect and maltreatment faced by Sierra Leoneans from majority of the foreign mining companies operating in the country.
The Paramount Chief’s letter to the authorities depicted a resolve by the landowners and entire people of the three chiefdoms to reject any company, institution or entity other than the Gento Group of Companies they had singed and sealed a land lease agreement with.
Reacting to the government public statement imposing the SLMMDMC as the owner of Kasafoni, however, the Paramount Chief of Sambaia Chiefdom, PC Musa Baimba Foray Jalloh III, who represents in Parliament the Paramount chiefs of the entire Tonkolili District, says the government has never consulted them that the Kasafoni Concession is owned by SLMMDMC.
Quoting a part of the government’s public notice, “…This decision was made under the law, specifically, Statutory Instrument No. 11 of 2024 and Section 17 of of the SLMMDMC Act 2023, PC MP Jalloh says it means that this is a Statutory instrument laid in Parliament to get mature, and therefore calls on the Legislative House to debate it, as according to him, he was not aware of SLMMDMC, and he had not been engaged to be informed of government’s interest in Kasafoni Concession.
Hon Jalloh says he’s touched by the public notice because he places great trust in the leadership of President Bio, who had alarmed them that his government will issue licenses to companies or investors only upon the consent of landowners and Paramount Chiefs.
It is on this premise the PC MP says they had already signed a Land Leased Agreement with Gento Group of Companies in respect of that area, and as per the Mines and Mineral Act of Parliament 2022,.
“No investor, no company had reached out to us for Kasafoni except Gento,” Hon Jalloh affirms, saying that having carefully thought and investigated in their own way, they realised that issuing a license to Gento Group of Companies, which is 100 percent Sierra Leonean-owned, it would not only benefit the three chiefdoms of the Kasafoni Concession, but the entire nation of Sierra Leone.
As the rightful stakeholders with the exclusive right to enter into land lease agreement with any company of our choosing as given them by the President and the Mines and Minerals Development Act of 2022, Hon Jalloh reminds the government that they have already signed a lease agreement with Gento Group of Companies, and asks the Parliament to intervene and look into the issue, noting that had SLMMDMC engaged them they wouldn’t have attempted to sign any agreement with Gento.