Published: October 15, 2025
MONROVIA — After mocking the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) for losing its Bernard’s Beach headquarters, the Unity Party (UP)—now back in power—is itself facing the reality of not owning a permanent home. The party has launched a high-profile fundraising campaign to build a national headquarters, marking what could become a crucial test of its organizational credibility and political symbolism.
Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs, Cornelia Wonkeleh Kruah, has been appointed chairperson of the National Fundraising Committee responsible for collecting the necessary funds for the project.
“It is an honor to serve as the chairperson of the National Fundraising Committee of the Unity Party for the acquisition of a national headquarters and county headquarters,” Kruah said in a Facebook post. “I do not take this task lightly, and I am confident in the team to serve alongside.”
Kruah’s team features several key party members, including Edmund Ford (co-chair), Selena Mappy, Sen. Prince K. Moye, and Mohammed Kromah (advisor). Others on the committee are Sarah McGill, Boakai Jaleiba, Garmai Koboi, and Eric Ceekay Sayee.
Founded in 1984, the Unity Party governed Liberia for 12 straight years under former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state. However, despite over a decade in power, the party never owned a property of its own. Its longtime headquarters in Congo Town became a source of embarrassment when the McLain family, the property owners, repossessed it after a rent dispute.
The episode left a lasting stain on the UP’s reputation, especially considering Sirleaf’s standing as a global stateswoman who often promoted governance reform but faced criticism at home for not addressing corruption and nepotism. Many Liberians also still hold her partially accountable for the country’s brutal past, citing her early association with former rebel leader Charles Taylor, who is now serving a 50-year prison sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone.
After being evicted from Congo Town, the UP relocated to a rented facility on Broad Street in central Monrovia, where it coordinated its successful 2023 presidential campaign that returned Joseph Nyumah Boakai, Sirleaf’s former vice president to power.
But the irony is not lost on observers: as the ruling Unity Party moves to build a new headquarters, its laughter over the CDC’s downfall at Bernard’s Beach is echoing back.
In August 2025, Civil Law Court Judge George W. Smith ruled that the 4.23-acre compound used by the CDC near Bernard’s Beach belonged to the Intestate Estate of Martha Stubblefield Bernard, ordering an eviction and demolition of structures on the site. The CDC’s loss became a political punchline, with UP supporters mocking their rivals for “failing to pay rent.”
Now, critics say the UP is caught in the same cycle of dependency — a reflection of how Liberia’s political parties continue to operate without solid institutional foundations.
“Every time a party comes to power, it starts from scratch,” said an independent political analyst in Monrovia. “The Unity Party is just repeating what the CDC did — governing without a home base it can truly call its own.”
Throughout Liberia, nearly all major political parties operate from rented buildings. This reliance underscores the fragile financial foundation and temporary nature of political organizations in the country, which often disappear or split after losing power.
As the Unity Party embarks on its fundraising drive, the effort carries both symbolic weight and practical urgency. Success could signal a shift toward institutional maturity — but failure could reinforce the notion that, in Liberia, even ruling parties remain tenants in their own democracy.
CDC breaks ground for its new headquarters October 18
As the governing UP raises funds to build its headquarters on its legally possessed land through purchase, the former ruling CDC, now squatting in Sinkor at the former Montserrado District #8 office of former Representative Acarous Gray is set to break ground for the construction of its permanent home.
Former Speaker J. Fonati Koffa is the chairperson of the fundraising committee for the CDC and has notified the Ministry of Justice of its planned groundbreaking ceremony on October 18.
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