Liberia: Presidential Clean Cities Initiatives Must also Focus on Public Awareness and Include the Media to Succeed

The once elegant E.J. Roye now in a delapidated condition.

The Executive Mansion in Monrovia recently announced that President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has launched what is called the “Presidential Clean Cities Initiative to support urban sanitation and youth employment.”

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***By Gabriel I.H. Williams ***

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An Executive Mansion press statement underscores that the initiative, championed by President Boakai, is designed to compliment ongoing efforts of county and municipal authorities to keep cities and communities clean, safe, and environmentally healthy.

The first phase of the Presidential Clean Cities Initiative, which began October 15, 2026, will be implemented across eight counties, covering 14 cities and one township.

Participating locations include Monrovia and Paynesville in Montserrado County; Ganta, Saniquellie, and Tappita in Nimba County; Gbarnga and Totota in Bong County; Foya and Voinjama in Lofa County; Buchanan in Grand Bassa County; Kakata City, Unification City and Schiefflin Township in Margibi County; Tubmanburg in Bomi County; and Zwedru City in Grand Gedeh County.

The Executive Mansion press statement notes that the Presidential Clean Cities Initiatives forms part of the Boakai administration’s broader efforts to improve community conditions, while providing young Liberians with opportunities to participate directly in national development.

Through the Clean Cities Initiatives, the government seeks to encourage greater community ownership of public spaces and stronger collaboration among citizens, youth groups, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), and local authorities in addressing sanitation and environmental challenges.

The first phase will engage 1,250 young people and 20 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) in sanitation activities, environmental initiatives, and public awareness campaigns, with plans for the program to expand to additional parts of the country.

According to reports, the clean-up campaign in Monrovia will target public spaces, waterways, and beachfronts. These places are infested with heaps of garbage, especially plastic water bags and bottles. Many of the attractive beachfronts are also being used as toilets by vagrants and others. Drug addicts, locally called zogo, are seen at some of the beachfronts getting high or exhibiting behaviors of being high, while syringes used to administer drugs are thrown around in the sand.

Turning Palm Grove Cemetery into a National Shrine

Another landmark in Monrovia being targeted for the Presidential Clean Cities Initiatives is the Palm Grove Cemetery, a site of national significance. There are historical accounts that the Palm Grove Cemetery was once the only burial site in Monrovia. Buried there, in addition to ordinary citizens and residents, are almost all the presidents of Liberia and most senior officials of government, before Liberia’s civil upheavals.

Other distinguished personalities also buried at Palm Grove Cemetery include the highly revered Bishop Samuel David Ferguson, the first black bishop of the Episcopal Church of Liberia. Among his notable contributions to Liberia’s development, in 1889, Bishop Ferguson founded Cuttington Collegiate and Divinity School, now Cuttington University in Bong County, under the Episcopal Church of the United States. Cuttington is the first private, coeducational, four-year degree granting institution in sub-Saharan Africa. Under his leadership, the Episcopal Church of Liberia also established the Bromley Mission, a prominent boarding school for girls in Montserrado County.

Sadly, however, almost all of the graves at Palm Grove have been destroyed. They include the graves of my father, and my younger sister – who died from childbirth complications because she could not reach a hospital after she got into labor due to armed hostilities in Monrovia just before the end of Liberia’s brutal and barbaric civil war. Many drug addicts or vagrants slept in the graves as a home before they were evicted and the cemetery sealed off.

Accordingly, there is a need for the Palm Grove Cemetery to be transformed into a national shrine in honor of our dead.

We applaud President Boakai for launching the Presidential Clean Cities Initiatives, which is intended to give urban areas across Liberia a much need sanitary improvement.

Media Mobilization for Maximum Public Awareness

However, there is a need for a comprehensive public awareness campaign through radio, television, newspapers, and social media, to educate people, shift public perceptions, and inspire specific behavior changes regarding the need to keep our communities and environment clean.

The Presidential Clean City Initiatives will not yield the desired results if the government relies on occasional press statements or press conferences, which is what the prevailing situation appears to be. This is why many community leaders and activists do not seem to be aware. To ensure success, a sustained public awareness campaign must focus on messages not just in English but also the various local ethnic languages, targeting all sectors of society.

After years of living amid heaps of garbage, the Presidential Clean City Initiatives, could be an intervention for which most Liberians would long remember President Boakai favorably. President Boakai could be regarded as the champion of clean environment if the resources for the initiatives are properly expended and the program executed efficiently.

It goes without saying that the Presidential Clean Cities Initiatives will not yield the desired outcome to bring about clean, safe, and environmentally healthy communities without closely working in partnership with the media, which are the custodians of public information dissemination.

Need to Rehabilitate Historic Buildings and Sites

While applauding President Boakai for launching the Presidential Clean Cities Initiatives, there is also a need for the government to seriously consider undertaking a program for the rehabilitation of historic buildings and landmarks in Monrovia, be they public or private owned structures.

Those historic or famous landmarks include the Ducor Palace Hotel, opened in 1960 as the first five-star luxury hotel in West Africa, which was also the first Intercontinental hotel in the West African sub-region. The eight-story luxury hotel, located on Ducor Hill with panoramic view of Monrovia, the St. Paul River and the Atlantic Ocean, featured over 100 rooms, a circular restaurant, a swimming pool, tennis court, and casino, among others.

Ivory Coast’s first President, Felix Houphouet-Boigny is said to have been so impressed with Ducor that he then built Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan on the same model. The Monrovia conference of independent African states in 1961 hosted some 20 African leaders there, among other events of global significance. Prominent international guests hosted at Ducor included Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the first female Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.

Another famous landmark is the E.J. Roye Building, the now wrecked 10-storey skyscraper in the commercial district of Monrovia. Completed in 1965, the tower was built as the national headquarters of the True Whig Party (TWP), which dominated Liberian politics for nearly a century until the 1980 military coup ended TWP rule. E.J. Roye had a grand auditorium, which hosted numerous international musical legends such as Meriam Makeba, American legendary musical groups such as the Jackson Five and Kool and the Gang. In addition to those global icons, the venue served as a vital stage for Liberia’s own legendary musicians, such as Miatta Fahnbulleh and Nimba Burr.

The areas surrounding the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the dilapidated old Education Ministry building on Broad Street in the heart of Monrovia have become a very congested market ground. Many marketers have extended their market stalls from the general market down Waterside and taken over much of Monrovia’s commercial district, reducing the once beautiful downtown into nothing more than a slump.

I understand that many of the abandoned and dilapidated buildings around Monrovia are privately owned. However, there is a serious need for the government to institute appropriate measures, in keeping with laws and city regulations, for the rehabilitation of those historic buildings and sites, to give a much need facelift to Monrovia, which is full of street potholes. The terrible conditions of the streets and roadways have made driving hazardous, leading to serious traffic jams and frequent accidents in Monrovia and its environs. It is about time that the Public Works Ministry very seriously considers addressing this situation by undertaking a major road rehabilitation program.

Considering the need to maintain our historic structures and sites, the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism (MICAT) is highly commended for rehabilitating the famous MICAT building on Capitol Hill in Monrovia, which was constructed in the 1960s. The MICAT building housed ELBC, now Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) and other government media outlets.

The construction of the MICAT building was overseen by E. Reginald Townsend, Liberia’s first Secretary of Information, now Minister of Information. He was also the first Minister of State for Presidential Affairs under President William R. Tolbert. Chairman of the TWP when the 1980 coup occurred, he was among the 13 government officials publicly executed following the coup. In the spirit of reconciliation and national unity, I propose to President Boakai for the MICAT building to be named in honor of the late E. Reginald Townsend.

Finally, like in the case of the Presidential Clean Cities Initiatives, President Boakai’s efforts to develop the country and improve the conditions of the Liberian people will amount to little or nothing if those tasked with the responsibilities for execution drop the ball and are not performing satisfactorily. In the end, it is the President who will take the blame and the fall for the failure of his government to deliver on its promises. Let’s not forget that 2029 is around the corner when Liberians will give their verdict on whether the Boakai government performed well to be given a second term.

About the author: Gabriel I.H. Williams is a journalist and authors of the two books, including the international award-winning, “Liberia the Heart of Darkness – Accounts of Liberia’s Civil War and Its Destabilizing Effects in West Africa available on Amazon. He can be reached at [email protected] .

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