Africa

Mass protests underway in Liberia

Hundreds of people, who on their way to a mass protest dubbed “Save the State” in Monrovia, Liberia, have abandoned their vehicles as police searches have brought traffic to a standstill.

Shops and banks are also closed.

The protesters aim to put pressure on President George Weah to fight corruption and stop alleged violations of the constitution.

They accuse him of ignoring the plight of the impoverished Liberian people and concentrating more on acquiring wealth.

The organisers are expecting the mass protest to be the largest against a government since the end of the country’s civil war 15 years ago.

Under enormous pressure to allow the protest go ahead, the Liberian president said in a pre-recorded nationwide address last week that it was the constitutional rights of citizens to protest.

But tensions were high ahead of the protest and heavily-armed police were joined by the Drug Enforcement Agency and Immigration police.

Police Chief Patrick Sudue, however, promised the protesters protection.

Organisers said they will not leave the protest grounds until President George Weah takes actions against his finance minister, Samuel Tweah and the governor of the Central Bank, Nathaniel Patray, in connection with the mishandling of $25m.

Liberians are angry about the apparent disappearance of state funds – and are planning a protest march on Friday to demand answers.

Their anger centres on two scandals: Revelations last year that $15.5bn Liberian dollars ($104m, £82m) of freshly minted currency had disappeared from Liberia’s ports and the mismanagement of a 25m US dollar cash injection into the economy last year.

In September 2018, local media reported that shipping containers filled with newly printed Liberian dollars from Swedish banknote manufacturer Crane AB, disappeared from Liberia’s entry ports between 2016 and 2017.

The Central Bank of Liberia denied the allegations and stated that the money was stored in vaults across the city.

Just a few months before the revelation, President George Weah, who came into office in January 2018, announced that the central bank would pump $25m into the economy to replace older Liberian dollars.

The Liberian dollar has been losing value – or depreciating – since July 2017. This has led to higher import costs and inflation, which means that everyday goods have become much more expensive for the average person in the country. –BBC

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