Students believed to be members of the Student Unification Party (SUP), a campus-based political party, set up a roadblock at the entrance of the University of Liberia on Capitol Hill in protest for the renovation of the buildings.
According to them, since the buildings housing the University were constructed, they have not been renovated. They set tires ablaze in the middle of the road at the main entrance of the UL, thus impeding the free flow of traffic, prompting the intervention of the Liberia National Police.
The protesting students also called on the Government of Liberia to prioritize the renovation of the University instead of the Capitol Building, which they claimed is irrelevant. The Joint Chamber of the Capitol Building is currently being renovated following an arson attack linked to former House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and others.
The students disclosed that the UL Administration has written the House of Representatives on several occasions to renovate the building, yet the request has reportedly fallen on deaf ears. “We are prepared to engage the Boakai administration with everything we have in our possession,” they stated.
They chanted slogans with placards criticizing national leaders for diverting essential resources to refurbish government offices while neglecting the deteriorating conditions of the country’s premier public university. “This is the people’s university! The classrooms are broken, the restrooms are horrible, and the library lacks materials,” one protester shouted. “Why renovate the Capitol when we can’t even sit in class comfortably?”
