Published: November 6, 2026
PALALA, Bong County — Farmers along the Palala-Zowienta road in Bong County are watching cassava, yams and potatoes rot after harvest. They say the road has deteriorated so badly that buyers and transport operators can no longer reliably reach their communities.
The road links Manakpolor, Camp 2 and other communities in Electoral District 1 to the wider road network. Residents say it has worsened over several years, to the point where few motorists are willing to use it. The farmers who depend on it for their income say the losses keep mounting.
Mary Sumo, a farmer in the area, said she has earned almost nothing from farming for more than three years because she cannot get her produce to market in Gbarnga. Farming has always been how she supported her household, she said, and without it she struggles to pay for her children’s schooling and health care.
“My son, as you can see, I am tired, but I can’t do anything because I have nowhere else to get money from. My goods have stayed long, spoiling, and that’s the only thing I can do to feed these children,” she said.
Residents say the few motorists who still travel the road charge higher fares to cover damage to their vehicles, which cuts further into the earnings of farmers already struggling to find buyers. They describe the area as one of Bong County’s important farming areas and say a better road would let them send more produce to market and help local food security.
The damage reaches beyond farming. James Kollie, a Manakpolor resident, said vehicles rarely come to the community, so families often carry sick relatives to care on motorbikes.
“My father was sick, and there was no way to get a car. We transported him on a bike, and his condition got worse,” he said.
Paul Sumo of Camp 2 walks with a cane. He said he broke his right foot in a motorcycle accident while taking produce to market.
“We fell down, and my right foot broke. Since that time, I have not been able to walk on my own. I’m not the only one who had an accident on that road. More than five persons here are suffering from similar things,” he said.
Residents also accuse politicians of promising to fix the road during election campaigns and never coming back.
“Every election, politicians come here to ask us to vote for them, promising to rehabilitate our road in return,” Paul Sumo said.
The residents say their repeated appeals have not produced the full rehabilitation the road needs. They are asking the government to make the road a priority and to rebuild it properly rather than patch it, saying temporary repairs will not hold up to regular traffic and the rainy season.
The Palala-Zowienta road does not appear among the ongoing or planned projects that Public Works Minister Roland Layfette Giddings listed at the Ministry of Information’s press briefing on Tuesday. Giddings said maintenance of secondary and feeder roads continues under contract and will be supported by yellow machines deployed to each county.
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