Liberia: Back of Executive Mansion – A Field for Open Defecation

Monrovia – Barely one week for the Liberian President George Weah to return to the Executive Mansion after 16 years of being vacant, the rear of the building that is facing the Atlantic Ocean still being polluted by residents of the neighboring communities.

The Executive Mansion, the official home of the Liberian President, was gutted by fire on July 26, 2006, six months after former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s inauguration.

The backside of the once the most powerful and well protected building in Liberia, once a no-go zone for pedestrians, has turned into a place where residents from nearby communities use for open defecation.

During the regime of former President Charles Taylor and other regimes, commuters were prevented from using the back of the building as security guards were posted to prevent loitering around the office of the President.

Agents of President Taylor’s Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU) manhandled civilians on numerous occasions for walking along the backside of the Mansion when the former Liberian leader occupied the Mansion.

Since 2006, the Executive Mansion has been out of function. Despite Information Minister Ledgerhood Rennie at a news conference Monday, February 7, 2022 said President Weah is fully prepared to start working from the Mansion and to return the Liberian presidency to its original seat, the back side remains unattended to.

Liberia’s Information Minister disclosed that the official program marking the celebration of the bicentennial of Liberia will be held on the grounds of the Capitol Building after which the President will start his official duty the same day at the Mansion.

“Right after the February 14 Bicentennial Program, the President will remain in the Mansion to continue the Liberian people’s work. The Mansion is not fully completed yet, but the President insists that he be there while work is ongoing for completion; as you know the presidency has been working from the Foreign Affairs Ministry,” he said.

Minister Rennie said the renovation of the entire Mansion is yet to be completed but 90% of the work on the 4th Floor of the building that contains the offices of the President and other important staff is being done.

“The President said it is better to be in office while the work is ongoing, with that, the President believes that it will give contractors more energy to work than to be awaiting them while working,” he said.

Buzzy Quarter and Capitol Hill are two communities around the Executive Mansion. Many of the homes in both communities are lacking proper toilet facilities.

Residents normally trooped their way to the back of the Executive Mansion for defecation.

Almost all of the homes in Buzzy Quarter are without toilets. There are three public toilets in the Buzzy Community for the over 20,000 residents.

Like Buzzy Quarter, Capitol Hill Community, the community that hosts the Executive Mansion, most of the homes in the Capitol Hill Community are without proper toilets.

John Mulbah is a resident of Capitol Hill. He wants the government to build more public toilets to ease the defecation spree at the back of the Executive Mansion.

“Let President Weah assign his EPS agents at the back of the Executive Mansion and build a public toilet for us because we are suffering from the lack of proper latrines in both Capitol Hill and Buzzy Quarter Communities,” Mulbah, a resident of Buzzy Quarter Community said.

Also, another resident from the Capitol Hill Community Kezzely Flomo added that the lack of decent toilet facility in his community cannot be used as an excuse to cause pollution at the back of the Executive Mansion.

Flomo added: “I think security personnel should be deployed to help stop the act of pollution.”