By Pewu Y. Sumo
MONROVIA – Alvin Wesseh, the former Assistant Minister for Regional Development Research and Extension and current Vice Chair for Operations of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), has called on Liberians to establish a “Land Defense Force” (LDF). Wesseh claims the force is necessary to protect citizens from what he describes as “land criminals” and “predatory” legal actions.
Appearing on Voice of Liberia on Thursday, February 5, 2026, Wesseh delivered a scathing critique of the current Unity Party (UP) administration and the judiciary following the mass demolition of homes in the Saye Town community and other parts of Liberia. On Saturday, January 31, 2026, hundreds of residents from the 4th and 5th Street areas in Saye Town were left homeless after their houses were razed.
According to the CDC Vice Chair, the current legal framework is being weaponized against the poor. He argued that this justifies the creation of a defense force to provide a grassroots mechanism to resist future evictions, which he claims lack humanitarian consideration or proper notice.
“We are asking the people to launch a Land Defense Force that will ensure that the people’s power resists land criminals,” Wesseh stated.
Speaking further, he argued that historical land displacement was a root cause of Liberia’s past instability. “Liberians went to war not because of rice, but because certain people came in the name of sophistication and the political elite to take the people’s land. They ostracized them into isolated economic zones—trenches, ghettos, and slums—which culminated in 14 years of brutal civil unrest.”
Wesseh blasted the current situation as a return to old political ideologies. “This is a policy of the True Whig Party that took this country to war. We see this land crisis as a reincarnation of that era—a political strategy to make our people homeless.”
However, Wesseh clarified that the CDC does not support a return to violence. “We do not support war; we do not support anything that has the propensity to derail our fragile peace or ignite state violence and chaos. Therefore, we will visit our people in Saye Town and Catholic Junction. We are asking the people to rally and tell the Boakai administration that their land belongs to them.”
The Saye Town community remains in a state of shock. Displaced residents, some of whom have lived their entire lives in the area, marched to the Capitol Building earlier this week to petition lawmakers for justice. Meanwhile, others who claim to possess legitimate documents for the land are seeking court intervention. Residents allege they were given no time to salvage their belongings before bulldozers moved in at dawn. To date, many residents are still sleeping in open fields with no hope of finding homes similar to those they occupied just one week ago.
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