Farmers Seek Independent Inquiry into Controversial Sierra Leone Palm Oil Deal

KOTUMA, SIERRA LEONE — 

Sierra Leonean farmer Bockarie Swaray was sitting on his porch one morning when he heard a deep whirring noise and jumped up to see a bulldozer fell his banana, oil palm and kola nut trees.

"There was nothing I could do," he said, slumped on a plastic chair with a frown on his thin, lined face. "I just prayed to almighty God to help me."

Swaray said his 11 acres (4 hectares) of land, in Sierra Leone's southern Pujehun province, was taken to become part of a 45,000-acre (18,200-hectare) palm oil plantation run by international agro-investor Socfin.

But Socfin, which runs rubber and oil plantations in six African countries, maintains it respected all terms of an agreement with the government of Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest nations, and all acquisitions were above board.

The Luxembourg-registered company, part of the empire of the French tycoon Vincent Bollore, has been embroiled since 2011 in a feud with local landowners in the Malen chiefdom in Pujehun, with landowners also fighting amongst themselves over the deal.

Now farmers and charities are demanding an independent investigation into the claims made by landowners who say their complaints and grievances were ignored.

"With Socfin everything has been shrouded in secrecy from day one," said Joseph Rahall, director of environmental charity and advocacy group Green Scenery.

A growing number of African land lease deals for mining and agribusiness have provoked tension and violence, with local communities claiming forcible eviction by foreign companies.

Socfin's general manager in Sierra Leone, Philip Tonks, told Reuters that 40 landowner representatives with community support signed an agreement to lease the land.

"When we first came in we began discussions with the paramount chief because he is the custodian of the land. Of course, in the early days there was mistrust, people didn't know who we were. Five years down the line, we've built up that trust," said Tonks.

"We're seen as land grabbers, but it was actually all done through consent."

Socfin has become the largest private employer in the West African country, employing more than 3,400 people from surrounding villages and providing extensive infrastructure projects and social services as well as jobs.

Source: (voanews) by Reuters