On Sunday night, March 30, 2025, I received a phone call from someone in the United States who is involved in international affairs – with strong ties to Liberia. He called to know whether I had heard about the frightening developments that occurred at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) near Monrovia when an SN Brussels Airlines flight – with passengers from the US, Europe and other parts of the world – landed there that very evening.
By Gabriel I. H. Williams, contributing writer
He narrated that at the time the Brussels Airlines flight landed at RIA – Liberia’s premier gateway to the outside world – the airport was plunged in darkness due to electric power outage, leaving passengers to use their cell phone flashlights to collect their luggage from baggage claim and to navigate through the airport.
He said his contact on the flight told him that the chaotic experience at the RIA was very frightening, especially for international passengers, who had to scramble in the darkness to find their luggage and walk through the dark terminal.
Upon hearing what sounded like a national embarassment, I told the fellow that I will reach out to some sources in Monrovia Monday morning to have a sense of what transpired at RIA, which I did. I also read media accounts and saw online videos of passengers navigating the terminal with mobile phone flashlights.
In the wake of the RIA blackout, which has become a serious national embarrassment, the Liberia Airport Authority (LAA) and the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) – the state electricity entity – initially traded blame for the incident.
According to media reports following the blackout, the LAA stated that the outage, which caused significant disruption to operations at RIA, was due to an electrical issue originating from the LEC power grid. However, the LEC countered that its technical team accessed the situation and discovered that the power outage was caused by a fuel shortage from three giant-sized generators that were commissioned in June 2024.
Considering the grave magnitude of the RIA blackout, the Liberian Senate’s Joint Committees on Transportation and Hydro-Carbon, Energy and Environment convened a hearing on April 2nd involving officials of the LAA and LEC to determine what went wrong.
During the hearings, the senators were given the reason for the RIA blackout, which sounds so laughable – even though the matter is very serious. The officials placed the blame on birds for the sudden power blackout at the country’s only international airport. They reported that a flock of birds feeding near dumpsites close to the airport caused the disruption by perching on the airport’s transformers, damaging an insulator connected to a transformer, which caused the loss of power.
According to media reports, the recent blackout was the latest in a series of infrastructure failures at the RIA. For example, in February 2025, there was another major incident that caused alarm when an Ethiopian Airlines flight was forced to abort its landing due to thick smoke from uncontrolled farm fires near the airport.
Judging from the series of reports following the RIA blackout, it goes without saying that mediocrity and incompetence are among primary reasons for the dysfunctional state of affairs at the airport. Failure to ensure operational efficiency at RIA could cause an aviation disaster that would once again stain post-war Liberia’s international image.
It comes as a coincidence that on Saturday, a day before the blackout, I received a call from a senior Liberian citizen residing in the US, who seriously complained that she and others, who have recently travelled via RIA, have experienced disorderliness in the baggage claim area. She said that the chaotic scenes in the baggage claim area, with local people crowding around amid a state of confusion, can be terrifying for passengers out of fear of losing their properties.
As a journalist who frequently publishes articles on Liberian-related developments, she said her call was to request that I look into the matter and reflect on the same in a publication for the attention of relevant authorities in the hope for corrective action. Her husband returned from Liberia several days ago, also with disturbing accounts of poor conditions at RIA.
International Image at Risk
Since assuming power in 2024, the government of President Joseph Boakai has been endeavoring to reposition post-war Liberia on the global stage, promote international partnership and investment – all intended to boost the economy and improve the lot of the Liberian people.
Significant among the international engagements is Liberia’s quest for a seat to become a Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a campaign which is gaining global momentum. Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia and Africa’s first democratically elected female president, is on board supporting the government in the global campaign to make Liberia’s case for the UNSC seat. Liberia’s foreign policy is being ably handled by Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti, former Assistant Secretary General of the UN, who comes to the post with a wealth of experience and connections at the global level. Despite the challenges, Minister Nyanti and her Foreign Ministry team that includes some of the most experienced individuals in international affairs, appear to be doing their best in the strive to positively reposition Liberia on the global stage.
However, President Boakai’s efforts to pivot Liberia as an attractive destination for trade, investment, tourism, among other international engagements, would be undermined if there is an image problem that the country’s only international airport is unsafe. It would be difficult to promote Liberia’s international image if foreign visitors entering the country would suffer culture shock – feelings of confusion, anxiety, etc. – upon landing at the airport because of operational inefficiency like the recent blackout.
Drumbeat for Civil Agitation
Liberia’s international image would also continue to suffer as long as the local media and social media platforms online are saturated with reports of maladministration (corruption, inefficiency) in the public sector – while the drumbeat for civil agitation is sounding louder.
Examples are recent protests by public school teachers, university and grade-school students, wives of retired soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), along with the increasingly toxic contest for power at the National Legislature that has divided the House of Representatives into two hostile factions. These tension-oriented developments are building into a tinderbox that could explode. The country is being balkanized (divided into hostile political camps) between the ruling establishment and the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) of former President George M. Weah, who lost reelection last year.
The December 2024 fire at the Capitol Building – seat of the National Legislature of Liberia – which caused massive destruction to the historic building, is yet another reminder of how politically-motivated violence can easily creep back into Liberian society.
There has also been sabre rattling (display or threat of military force) by some ex-combatants from the civil war claiming allegiance to Mr. Weah, who have taken to talk shows and social media online to openly threaten the Boakai government and the fragile peace of the country.
The rising political tension in the country is being fueled by bellicose rhetoric (aggressive and inflammatory utterances) by a disgruntled few desperate for power, who are exploiting the difficult economic hardship being experienced by a majority of the Liberian populace to inflame anti-government sentiments.
Those malcontents are emboldened by the Boakai government’s apparent inability to effectively articulate the progress that have been made since coming to power in January 2024, through effective public information dissemination. For example, I never knew that the government had launched a major road construction program across the country until I saw videos recently posted on social media by a content creator called JNB Son, along with some independent media reports. Similarly, the government’s decision to dig up part of a park in Monrovia to reroute the country’s only fiber optic cable recently ignited a heated debate, particularly among Weah’s supporters, who exploited it as an attempt by the Boakai government to destroy a project undertaken during Weah’s tenure.
The backlash was caused by the government’s failure to initially inform the public that a portion of the park was being excavated to repair the fiber optic cable that connects Liberia to the global internet services, which had been damaged during the construction of the park under Weah’s administration. The noise dissipated after the government provided information that the construction was intended to repair a damaged cable which had caused frequent internet disruption in the country.
There is a need for the government to seriously rethink its approach regarding public information dissemination, as Weah’s spokespersons have practically seized the information high-ground, while the government is reduced to mostly reacting.
In view of the foregoing, this is a call for the government to prioritize dissemination of information to the public by providing adequate financial support to the Information Ministry, Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS), and other government information outlets, with the mandate to be proactive in disseminating information on national progress. There is also a need for the government to contract private media experts to assist in preparing and executing a communication policy that would be a guide for proactive public information dissemination.
Finally, it is of critical importance for the government to foster a stronger working relationship with the independent media by giving primacy to the sector – which is indispensable in managing public expectations. The government must prioritize meeting its financial obligations to media entities for services rendered, which are mostly for government advertisements. We can only hope that the Boakai government does not mimic the CDC government’s childish social media propaganda tactics, which contributed to Weah’s reelection loss.
About the Author: Gabriel I.H. Williams is a career journalist, diplomat and author
