In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 23, 2025, sheriffs accompanied by heavily armed police men were seen enforcing an eviction order using earth moving equipment to destroy structures hosting the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), thereby making the main opposition party homeless. But former President George Manneh Weah has told his partisans to remain calm.
The eviction of CDC from their Congo Town headquarters followed months of legal battle over ownership of the property. An August 13, 2025 ruling by the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court, awarded the 4.23-acre compound near Bernard’s Beach to the Intestate Estate of Martha Stubblefield Bernard. Judge George W. Smith ruled that the CDC had no legal claim to the property after reviewing deeds and boundaries, directing the Montserrado County Sheriff to carry out the eviction.
However, the Chairman of the Congress for Democratic Change Janga A. Kowo dismissed the court’s ruling recently at news conference in Monrovia questioning the procedure by the Civil Law Court to evict the party from its headquarters.
He said it was unnecessary for the court to order the Liberia National Police (LNP) to carry out the eviction of their headquarters rather than using the sheriff to do so. Kowo frowned that such a procedure raises serious concerns about judicial impartiality, which he thinks is a potential prejudice against the CDC.
Despite Kowo’s reaction, the eviction order was not reversed as the demolition team did not relent in executing the court’s mandate. Among structures demolished in the CDC compound include the Munah E. Pelham Youngblood Vocational School and other business centers owned by partisans. As the demolition was ongoing, partisans and sympathizers stood by the roadside in bewilderment with their hands folded while bulldozers brought down the buildings including the famous sycamore tree.
During the eviction, a former Commissioner of the Township of West Point, Joseph C. Wea was arrested. Police sources also told this paper that petrol bombs, arms and ammunition, diplomatic passports among other life threatening items were discovered in the compound of CDC.
What did Weah Say After the eviction?
Now that the headquarters lies in ruins, former President George Manneh Weah has reacted to the eviction of the CDC and the destruction of the party’s properties. Weah encouraged all Liberians, especially supporters and sympathizers to remain law abiding and respect the due process in the interest of democracy and the rule of law.
“We must, however, take the high road. In the interest of peaceful coexistence, I urge everyone to remain calm, law-abiding, and respectful of due process, despite this partisan political mischief from the Unity Party government,” Weah said in a statement. He indicated that in the legal battle over the ownership of the CDC headquarters, the party has always followed the rule of law and openly stated its willingness to abide by the court’s final ruling, regardless of the outcome.
“Yet, before the matter was fully exhausted, the trigger-happy, partisan leadership of the police force, with direct instructions from Boakai himself, sprang into action. This was not a lawful eviction; it was a failed mission to destroy and erase the CDC in an attempt to fulfill the very wish Boakai has repeatedly expressed to his lieutenants,” former President Weah claimed.
He added that posterity will punish them harshly lamenting “While the loss of our office building is a setback, I want to emphasize that it is only temporary. We shall overcome this sooner rather than later, thanks to your unwavering commitment, determination, and resilience fellow Cdcians, coalitions, well wishes and sympathizers.”
He admonished his partisans not be despair in spite of these are difficult times the CDC is faced with. “Our party has faced worse situations even from the very same actors we see today—and we have emerged stronger. We shall prevail.” He announced that a Special National Headquarters Delivery Committee is being established to immediately begin the construction work of a new headquarters.
Boakai’s response
When asked for his feedback to the eviction, President Joseph Nyumah Boakai said the demolition and eviction of the headquarters of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) was based on the law and not the government, adding “The law is the law.” Speaking with reporters at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) on Saturday, August 23 upon his return from Japan, President Boakai frowned at individuals bent on shifting blame on the police. He said the police were implementing the court’s order. “The law is the law. It is not the government; it is the government implementation of the law. The police were ordered to do it and they did it. That demolition is removal of the people from premises that do not belong to them,” Boakai stated.
