Monrovia, Liberia – The Unity Party-led government has taken full responsibility for the controversial Liberia Traffic Management (LTM) concession agreement amid growing national backlash, official protests, and a legislative order halting the project.
Unity Party Secretary General Mohammed Ali made the declaration in a statement defending the administration’s ownership of the deal, which has been widely criticized for its security implications, economic imbalance, and lack of stakeholder engagement.
“The Unity Party-led government takes full responsibility for the LTM concession agreement. If it is a bad concession, we will fix it. We share that responsibility with no one else. We alone will take the public beating and bashing for this,” Ali stated.
The agreement allows LTM, a foreign-controlled entity, to oversee vehicle registration, driver’s license issuance, and traffic enforcement through digital systems and private management of state functions. However, the deal has been met with fierce opposition from transport workers, commercial drivers, and key members of the Legislature.
On July 31, the House of Representatives, through its Joint Committee on Investment and Concessions and Transport, headed by Representative Foday Fahnbulleh issued a “stay order” on all LTM operations. The decision followed LTM’s failure to appear for a scheduled investigative hearing prompted by a petition from aggrieved Ministry of Transport employees.
According to the House, all other summoned parties honored the invitation, but LTM neither appeared nor submitted a written excuse. In response, the Joint Committee froze all LTM activities pending a full legislative review of the agreement. The Ministry of Transport has been directed to immediately resume its statutory functions, including motor vehicle registration, issuance of driver’s licenses, and enforcement of transport laws in collaboration with the Liberia National Police.
The House also instructed the Chief Clerk to communicate its decision to relevant authorities and mandated the Inspector General of Police to assist in law enforcement during LTM’s suspension. Meanwhile, LTM and its legal counsel have been summoned to appear before the committee on Monday to respond to contempt charges for failing to honor multiple legislative summonses.
On the Senate side, Lofa County Senator Momo Tarnuekollie Cyrus, who chairs the Senate Committee on Defense, Security, Intelligence, and Veteran Affairs, raised serious concerns over the deal’s national security implications. In a formal press release, Senator Cyrus condemned the decision to outsource vehicle registration and license issuance to a foreign entity, describing it as a threat to Liberia’s internal security systems.
“National security is not for sale,” Senator Cyrus stated. “Outsourcing this core security function — which entails biometric data, geographic tracking, identity verification, and vehicular movement — to a foreign entity is tantamount to weakening the very foundations of our internal security architecture.”
He warned that the deal exposes the country to data breaches and compromises national sovereignty. The senator also criticized the revenue-sharing terms of the concession, which reportedly allow LTM to retain 70 percent of revenues while the government receives only 30 percent, with no guaranteed minimum returns or escalation clauses.
Despite the criticisms, Mohammed Ali maintained that the Unity Party would not attempt to shift blame onto past administrations.
“It is in the same vein that the Unity Party-led government will take all the glories and praises for each, every and all projects that we complete. We will share glories with no previous governments just as we are not going to share any public bashing with any previous governments,” Ali said.
He continued, “I hope this will claim the attention of those who are quick to run to the archives to bring documents about which government started projects we are doing. On the LTM issue, it is only us taking the bashing.”
With LTM’s operations suspended, legislative scrutiny intensifying, and protests continuing, the Boakai administration faces increasing pressure to revisit the concession and restore confidence in the management of Liberia’s public-private partnerships.
