Last Sunday, the Martin Luther King Movement (MMLK) published a declaration to ask that land audits are carried out in all of Togo’s communities.

Edoh Komi, the civil group’s president, denounced the unorthodox management of land resources by mayors and their collaborators in the communities. “They continually take advantage of populations. Victims are often and always land owners. To hide and legitimize what they do, they issue decrees to transfer properties of locals claiming they are located in administrative reserves. This is how, with the help of surveyors, thousands of acres of land are sold to third parties right in front of expropriated rightful owners,” said the official.

According to him, this calls for a strict and exhaustive audit in all of Togo’s municipalities. “After meeting with victims of such operations, the MMLK demands a land audit to find the people behind its sustaining and bring down all the people that use their authority with impunity to commit such acts,” he said.

Aware of the land challenges that the nation currently faces, Togolese authorities planned a national forum on land which should “soon” take place, according to the land minister.

Souha Touré