Days after civil servants on the Ministry of Transport staged a peaceable protest towards the now-controversial site visitors Administration deal, industrial drivers took to the streets on Monday, July 28, to demand an instantaneous cancellation.
By: Kruah Thompson
Monrovia, July 29, 2025: Business drivers, primarily from throughout Monrovia, staged a protest to sentence the controversial concession settlement between the Authorities of Liberia and Liberia Visitors Administration Inc. (LTMI), branding the deal as exploitative and detrimental to their livelihoods.
The drivers argued that the 25-year settlement, which transfers management of key transport routes, site visitors administration, and different core capabilities from the Ministry of Transport to a foreign-backed personal agency, LMTI, undermines the ministry’s authority.
The drivers are calling for the rapid termination of the settlement and the restoration of full management of the Ministry of Transport.
The LTMI concession settlement was formally signed on September 11, 2018, between the Authorities of Liberia and LTM to modernize, digitize, and handle the nation’s transportation and site visitors techniques with a deal with producing income, bettering highway security, and lowering corruption in site visitors enforcement.
It was ratified by the legislature on December 21, 2018, and subsequently revealed publicly in a handbill on January 7, 2019.
Though the deal was dormant for a time, on January 24, 2025, President Boakai formally endorsed and reaffirmed the settlement. It was totally activated following a Supreme Courtroom ruling on Could 28, 2025, which cleared the best way for operations to proceed.
The settlement, which took impact on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, sparked widespread outrage amongst Liberians within the capital, Monrovia.
In keeping with stories, greater than 200 workers of the Ministry of Transport marched to the Capitol on July 16, 2025, to submit a petition to Speaker Koon, urging legislative scrutiny of the 25-year LTM concession.
The petition highlighted considerations over legality, job losses (affecting not less than 265 ministry workers), and potential income losses exceeding US$275 million over the concession interval.
Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon formally obtained and tabled the petition on the ground, beneath the oversight of the Home’s joint committees on concessions, that are empowered to overview and examine compliance with authorities concession agreements.
On Thursday, July 24, 2025, the Liberian Senate’s Plenary formally mandated its management to request that President Joseph Nyuma Boakai instantly halt the implementation of the Liberia Visitors Administration Integrated (LTM-I) concession settlement.
Nevertheless, regardless of the Senate’s directive, President Boakai has but to take any motion. As of current occasions, no official response has been issued by the Govt Mansion addressing the considerations raised by lawmakers.
In the meantime, public opposition to the deal continues to develop. Many voters and stakeholders imagine the settlement is prohibited, economically damaging, and a risk to nationwide safety. Critics argue it undermines employment alternatives and will probably pressure many native transport operators out of enterprise.
On Monday, July 28, 2025, industrial drivers in Monrovia staged a mass protest towards what they described as inhumane therapy beneath the brand new settlement.
The protesters decried extreme ticketing and alleged extortion by LTMI officers, claiming the corporate is exploiting drivers beneath the guise of site visitors enforcement.
Chatting with this publication, protester Emanuel B. Silegba accused LTMI officers of harassment and extortion.
“Every time we’re pulled over by LTM officers, they both ask for a US$20 bribe or threaten to tow our autos,” Silegba alleged. “Even once we current legitimate paperwork issued by the Ministry of Transport, they nonetheless reject them.”
He additional complained that LTM officers typically cite automobile defects as justification for issuing tickets, claims he believes are unfair given the character of the vehicles on Liberia’s roads.
“Whenever you present all of them your paperwork, they nonetheless say your taillight isn’t working or your tires aren’t clean,” he defined. “They neglect that these are used autos. Most of us can solely afford second-hand tires that value round $ 40, not brand-new ones that go for $ 250. Due to this, they nonetheless subject tickets, and now our wives and youngsters are struggling. College is about to open, and we’ve got no cash.”
Silegba argued that almost all used vehicles in Liberia are imported from Europe and America, typically with present mechanical points which can be past the drivers’ monetary means to restore totally.
“All of the autos working in Liberia have been beforehand used and include issues. Nobody brings in brand-new autos, besides authorities officers. They’re all faulty indirectly,” he stated.
Through the protest, offended drivers shouted insults at passing LTMI autos, calling them “rogue, rogue” in frustration over what they described as every day intimidation.
Frankin Sisco, a industrial driver with 17 years of expertise, additionally condemned the settlement, accusing the federal government of permitting international pursuits, notably the Lebanese-backed LTM, to dominate native transport jobs and exploit bizarre Liberians.
Sisco stated LTM officers routinely subject fines of as much as US$150, whereas cops impose separate costs, resulting in what he referred to as “double punishment.” He claimed the judicial system exhibits bias in favor of enforcement officers.
“Whenever you go to courtroom, they are saying the regulation was written in U.S. {dollars}, so the police are proper to subject tickets in USD,” Sisco stated. “However when authorities officers break the regulation, the courts compromise. When it’s bizarre residents, the total regulation is enforced.”
“They neglect that we’re the very individuals who drive them to work,” he added.
Sisco referred to as on President Joseph Boakai to intervene within the matter and revisit the concession settlement.
“Transport used to function beneath the American plate. Now, beneath LTM, it’s the Arab plate,” he stated in criticism of the foreign-led administration.
Each Sisco and Silegba, together with dozens of protesters, are urging the federal government to terminate the LTM settlement and return all traffic-related capabilities to the Ministry of Transport. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
