By Lincoln G. Peters
MONROVIA, October 26, 2026: Scores of marketers, predominantly women, staged a peaceful protest in Waterside, central Monrovia, on Monday against plans by the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) to remove their selling tables along a major road corridor.
The protesters accused city police officers of harassment and introducing new restrictions without consulting their leadership, warning that the planned removal could threaten their livelihoods.
According to the marketers, they arrived at the market Monday morning to find city police officers ordering them to vacate portions of the roadway to make way for construction work reportedly planned by the Ministry of Public Works.
Angered by the directive, the marketers marched toward the Ministry of Public Works, chanting, “President Boakai, we want to sell. Give us our tables.”
Their concerns intensified after they spotted earth-moving equipment in the area, raising fears that their businesses could be disrupted.
The disputed tables were constructed during the administration of former President George Weah under then-Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson T. Koijee as part of efforts to organize commercial activities in Waterside.
Following the protest, representatives of the marketers held discussions with officials of the Ministry of Public Works, the Liberia National Police Traffic Division and Montserrado County District #7 Representative Emmanuel Dahn.
Speaking after the meeting, Representative Dahn clarified that the government had no intention of shutting down Waterside Market or removing all marketers from the area.
“We are not removing markets or marketers from Waterside, but we’re removing tables that have been planted on the main corridor,” Dahn explained.
However, marketers’ representative Momo Jackson criticized the decision, arguing that removing the tables would deprive struggling traders, particularly women and single mothers, of their means of survival.
Jackson said the tables, constructed under the former Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) administration, had provided traders with designated spaces to conduct their businesses.
He expressed disappointment that the current Unity Party-led administration was seeking to remove the structures, maintaining that they were not obstructing government operations.
The dispute highlights growing concerns among informal traders over efforts to regulate commercial activities along major roads in central Monrovia. -Editing by The New Dawn
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