MONROVIA – Pressure is mounting on President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to reject the proposed Port Management Decentralization Bill, following sharp criticisms from political commentator Gbarpoluboy Ambulah and Anderson D. Miamen, head of the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL). Both figures have raised alarms over what they describe as a secretive and self-serving legislative process surrounding the bill.
In a detailed statement titled “Unmasking the Selfish Motive Behind the Autonomy of the Port Bill or Independent Port,” Ambulah outlined what he called “seven selfish and secret reasons” why President Boakai should withhold his signature. He alleged that Senate Pro-Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence has worked behind closed doors to manipulate port governance in favor of her political allies, particularly concerning the Buchanan Port.
Ambulah claims that on April 1, 2024, Senator Karnga-Lawrence disclosed talks with companies interested in managing Liberia’s ports. However, she allegedly excluded the National Port Authority (NPA) from these discussions and instead positioned her close allies to handle negotiations independently. By July 2024, a resolution was passed requesting President Boakai to remove the NPA’s oversight from four major ports: Monrovia, Buchanan, Greenville, and Harper. When the President declined to act on the resolution, lawmakers pushed a new law through in November 2024 to legally strip the NPA of that authority.
According to Ambulah, the move has left NPA leadership grappling with legal uncertainty while simultaneously trying to attract investors now unsure of the agency’s stability. “This bill was born of selfish ambition and is now delaying national progress,” he warned.
Ambulah further questioned why the full text of the bill has not been released and why its sponsors have remained silent. Comparing the process to another bill sponsored by Senator Albert Chie concerning the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), which included public hearings and expert testimony, he condemned the secrecy surrounding the port legislation.
“There is no public hearing, no transparency, and no visibility into this legislation,” he added. “Do not sign this bill until it is subjected to a full public review like other important pieces of legislation.”
CENTAL Executive Director Anderson D. Miamen also weighed in on the controversy. In a Facebook post, Miamen criticized the Legislature for its lack of transparency, calling the drafting process undemocratic and exclusionary. “The Legislature wants to decentralize port management in Liberia, but the process around the development of the purported decentralization law is not decentralized, inclusive, or transparent. This is contradictory,” Miamen wrote.
He called on lawmakers to halt the passage of legislation with national implications unless civil society, subject matter experts, and the public are invited to contribute meaningfully to its review. “Open the ongoing Port Management Decentralization process and allow citizens and other actors to review it and make vital inputs,” he urged.
Meanwhile, as public calls for accountability grow louder, President Boakai faces a pivotal decision on whether to approve the bill or return it to the Legislature for broader consultation. The outcome could have far-reaching implications not only for port governance but for public trust in the Boakai administration’s commitment to transparency and good governance.
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