‘Free Stranded Goods’ -Boakai Urged To Act Before Christmas

MONROVIA – Market women are watching their capital rot at the port. Some mortgaged their homes for loans to finance goods that have not cleared in months. Former Press Union of Liberia President Gabriel I.H. Williams now wants President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to intervene before Christmas. His appeal links three pressures facing the Government. These are a trade crisis, rising extreme poverty, and Liberia’s December presidency of the UN Security Council. Williams fears protests could embarrass Boakai on the world stage. He then turns on the opposition CDC and former President George M. Weah. He accuses some CDC leaders of beating war drums ahead of 2029. Those charges demand a CDC response, as THE ANALYST reports.

President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has been called upon to intervene urgently on behalf of Liberian businesswomen and importers whose goods have been stranded, so that they can get their goods for sale before the coming Christmas season. The call was made by Gabriel I.H. Williams, a former leader of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), in a press statement issued in Monrovia on November 10, 2026.

Williams’s appeal to President Boakai comes in the wake of two protest marches organized by a group called China Businesswomen United With One Voice and the Consortium of Liberian Importers from China.

According to media reports, thousands of Liberian businesswomen and importers marched on the Capitol Building, seat of the National Legislature of Liberia in Monrovia, on November 3 and 6, 2026, demanding a legislative investigation into severe shipping bottlenecks and rising shipping costs, which are having crippling effects on small Liberian businesses.

Capital Stranded For Months

During the protest, the Liberian businesswomen and importers complained that millions of dollars in commercial capital remain stranded at the port for up to seven months. They accused shipping companies and several port operators of contributing to excessive charges and prolonged delays in the arrival and clearance of imported goods.

The businesswomen added that shipments originating from China and other Asian countries sometimes take between six and seven months to arrive in Liberia, with additional delays at the ports affecting the delivery of their goods. In their petition to the National Legislature, they emphasized the human costs, stating that as mothers and primary providers, these delays directly threaten the livelihoods of their families and employees who depend on daily wages.

The businesswomen and importers added that some traders use their homes and personal properties as collateral to secure high-interest bank loans to finance their businesses. The struggling businesswomen and importers lamented that despite the delays affecting their businesses, they remain obligated to pay taxes to the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), rent for office and storage facilities for their goods, and salaries for their employees.

Williams argued that even though the businesswomen and importers have petitioned the National Legislature for a resolution to their plight, an immediate intervention by President Boakai to break the impasse would yet again demonstrate that the President is a leader who is focused on the welfare of the Liberian people.

Williams, a former Liberian diplomat to the United States, recalled that the protests by the Liberian businesswomen and importers coincide with the release of the latest report on Liberia by the World Bank, which highlights that while Liberia is experiencing economic growth, there has been an increase in extreme poverty in the country over the past two years.

He noted that this is why such an intervention by President Boakai for the marketers to get their goods for sale before the coming Christmas holiday season would help boost the national economy. Such an intervention, he added, would also ease the financial pressure on small Liberian businesses, which are part of the lifeblood of the Liberian economy.

UNSC Presidency Raises Stakes

Williams, who is also an author, said these economic challenges confronting the Liberian people are unfolding at a time when Liberia is playing very important roles at the international level. He observed that Liberia’s historic election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is magnified in significance as Liberia assumes the rotating presidency of the UNSC for the month of December 2026.

“This is a moment of pride for our country for which all Liberians must work together in our collectives to demonstrate to the world that we are a united people,” Williams stated. “While President Boakai himself will be in New York to preside as Liberia assumes the rotating UNSC presidency, the government must ensure that we do not have any situation like the recent protests of local businesswomen, which could attract thousands of ordinary people.”

He warned that while the President is on the world stage at the United Nations, mass demonstrations against the Government could easily attract the attention of the international media to the embarrassment of the President. Such demonstrations, he cautioned, could also negatively impact the image of post-war Liberia, which is going through the process of recovery.

Despite enormous challenges in the rebuilding of post-war Liberia, Williams said the country is making tangible progress, such as Liberia’s impressive roles at the international level, thanks to the visionary leadership of Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti, under the guidance of President Boakai. Such gains, he added, can only be consolidated in an atmosphere of peace in Liberia.

Williams Condemns “Drumbeat Of War”

In light of the foregoing, Williams vehemently condemned some Liberian political leaders and their supporters, who he said are threatening to engage in renewed civil war in the country for the sake of regaining political power. “Our attention is drawn to recent pronouncements by some leaders of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) opposition party headed by former President George M. Weah, who are threatening to resort to violence if they do not win the 2029 presidential and general elections in Liberia,” he declared.

“Let it be made absolutely clear to Mr. Weah and his CDC supporters, who were voted out of power by the Liberian people for rampant corruption and gross inefficiency, that they risk international sanctions and Mr. Weah himself ending up imprisoned abroad like former Liberian leader Charles Taylor, if there is any attempt to disrupt the current hard-won peace of Liberia,” Williams warned.

Williams, author of the recently published book “Corruption is Destroying Africa: The Case of Liberia,” which is soon to be launched, indicated that more than a half dozen senior officials of Weah’s government suffered U.S. sanctions or faced prosecution for various criminal activities.

He added that those former officials of Weah’s government include the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Chief of Staff to the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Finance Minister.

 “That these kinds of people are running around beating the drums of war indicate that Mr. Weah could end up similar to grossly corrupt and murderous leaders like Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor, who destroyed themselves due to greed for power,” Williams asserted.