Published: October 14, 2026
ZORZOR, Lofa County – Zorzor would lose its city status under a Ministry of Local Government review that says 108 of Liberia’s 141 cities no longer qualify under the Local Government Act of 2018, and the lawmaker who represents the town says he will rally the Lofa Legislative Caucus to reject it.
Deputy Minister for Urban Affairs Fatima Bintu Sirleaf gave a county-by-county breakdown of the review on state broadcaster ELBC on Oct. 7, saying only 33 cities meet the law’s requirements. She said Lofa County retained three of its six listed cities: Voinjama, Foya, and Kolahun. Zorzor is not among them.
“It’s a joke… This has not yet passed. This is not yet agreed upon. And we’re not going to accept it,” said Rep. Augustine B. Chiewolo of Lofa County’s District 5, which includes Zorzor.
Chiewolo said the announcement has no force because the Legislature has not acted on it. The provision at the center of the dispute, Section 2.16(c) of the Act, says existing cities other than national and county capitals keep their legal status, but requires the minister responsible for local government to “report to the Legislature on the status of each such city, township and borough seven years following the passage of this Act for the purpose of reconfirmation.” It adds that cities that do not meet the Act’s criteria “shall be relegated to a town status.”
Chiewolo reads the provision as requiring the ministry to research and report to lawmakers, not to dissolve cities on its own. “For me, until it reaches us, I just consider it has not been done,” he said.
The section does not say expressly whether relegation takes effect on the ministry’s assessment or only after the Legislature acts, and that is the gap the two sides are arguing over. The ministry has described the exercise as a statutory reaffirmation, not an abolition of municipalities. Sirleaf’s ELBC remarks, however, described the cities as already lost. “Sinoe lost 43 cities, the highest,” she said.
Chiewolo called the announcement premature, noting that the ministry held a workshop in Kakata, Margibi County, in September on a roadmap for legislative sign-off and validation of its reaffirmation report. “Until then, it’s a proposal,” he said.
“It’s a joke… This has not yet passed. This is not yet agreed upon. And we’re not going to accept it.”
Rep. Augustine B. Chiewolo, Lofa County District 5
“For me, it’s laughable,” Chiewolo said of the decision to drop Zorzor, adding that the town meets the historical and legal criteria for a city and should keep receiving the benefits that come with the status. Whatever deficiencies exist, he said, “we should be receiving our benefits as a city.”
Section 2.16(d) of the Act sets the minimum requirements for a city, including a population of at least 10,000; electricity; pipe-borne water and sewage services; waste collection; primary and secondary schools; health and recreational facilities; demarcated wards; cemeteries; transportation and communications infrastructure; and business facilities. The ministry said it assessed each city against criteria including population, infrastructure, public services and economic activity.
Chiewolo said the ministry is retaining other cities that do not meet every requirement. He said the ministry should apply the standard to all cities, or explain why it treated Zorzor differently.
Jackson F. Wolobah, assistant minister for research and statistics at the Ministry of Labour, said Zorzor has what it takes to be a city. He pointed to the town’s referral hospital, health center, and financial institutions, and said some cities the ministry kept lacked such facilities.
“Of course, I’m not going to accept it,” Chiewolo said, adding that he would also press the Lofa Legislative Caucus to reject the downgrade.
He joins a growing number of lawmakers and lawyers who say only the Legislature can remove city status it granted by statute. Bong County District 7 Rep. Foday E. Fahnbulleh and Grand Gedeh County District 3 Rep. Jacob C. Debee II have raised the same objection, as have lawyers Lafayette B. Gould and Teklo Maxwell Grigsby. Section 9.2 of the Act provides that cities “shall be established by the Legislature.”
In May, Grand Kru County Sens. Albert T. Chie and Numene T. H. Bartekwa and Sinoe County Sens. Augustine S. Chea and Crayton O. Duncan asked the Senate to intervene, questioning whether the ministry had met the reporting requirement in Section 2.16(c). Their two counties account for 75 of the 108 cities losing their designation, according to Sirleaf’s figures: 43 in Sinoe and 32 in Grand Kru.
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