Medici Land Governance Signs MOU with Liberia Land Authority to Recognize and Record the Rights of Liberian Landowners

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Medici Land Governance (MLG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Liberia Land Authority, the government agency of the Republic of Liberia responsible for land governance in the country. The MOU details MLG’s agreement to pilot a streamlined systematic land titling system and a land administration system that would recognize and record the rights of Liberian landowners. The pilot project will demarcate and document land rights for up to one thousand (1000) residential land parcels in or around the city of Monrovia in the Republic of Liberia.

“Together, the Liberian government and MLG will promote a land governance system that is pro-poor and gender equal, in line with our shared core values. This groundbreaking pilot project will help solidify a strong partnership with the government of Liberia and set the foundation for exploring other opportunities across the nation.” – said Ali El Husseini, PhD, CEO of Medici Land Governance.

To complete this effort, MLG will obtain high-resolution imagery and conduct community sensitization, enumeration, and comprehensive staff training to ensure accurate collection of landowner data in line with government regulations, while adding capacity building to Liberia’s labor pool. The collected information will then be aggregated and loaded into the land information management system (LIMS), the first of its kind in Liberia. LIMS will provide an accurate and user-friendly medium for the LLA to effectively implement the Liberian Land Rights Act (2018) and support the Liberian government’s Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD).

In Liberia, lack of recorded land rights and transactions leave landowners and the public vulnerable to encroachment, invasion, and fraudulent sales. Without clear recognition of landowners’ greatest assets (available, accessible, affordable legal and reliable property information), individuals are not empowered to improve their well-being and promote economic development. This pro bono pilot project will explore moving Liberia towards a digital and blockchain-strengthened economy, which is anticipated to strengthen revenue generating capacities and reduce corruption in many areas.

“The Pilot is in the right direction respecting the statutory mandates of the Land Authority; it complements the government’s Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD); and it is in alignment with the appreciative efforts of donors and implementing partners in the land sector, such as the World Bank, Sida, USAID, Tenure Facility, amongst others. The Board of Commissioners at the Liberia Land Authority is longing for a durable tangible result that the Liberia people will see, touch, feel, and live it all. The successful implementation of this Pilot will help improve our deliverable capacity, eliminate land conflicts and land corruption in the target area, provide the LLA with clear pictorial view, authoritative property information that will help in valuing properties for many purposes, including real estate tax collection by the Liberia Revenue Authority, street address system, mortgage, settlement of court cases, etc. At the LLA we are look at the bigger picture, while making sure there is no overlap or duplication of activities, and when all is settled – we want to see an available, accessible and affordable well-functioning integrated user-friendly land information management system interacting with all stakeholders and users.” – said J. Adams Manobah, Sr. (Atty), Chairman of the Liberia Land Authority.

About Medici Land Governance

Medici Land Governance leverages blockchain and other technologies (such as cryptography, AI and others) to support land governance, titling, and administration with a secure public record of land ownership. With land records stored on the blockchain, land ownership is standardized and can be recognized by local and global economies. Blockchain applied to land improves lives, stimulates economies, and strengthens communities. Medici Land Governance supports agencies in the digitization of their current records, engendering trust and security in data by diminishing human error and accidental damage to records. It is a subsidiary of Medici Ventures, Overstock.com’s blockchain accelerator.