Between 1980 and 1990, Liberia was governed by a Master Sergeant then civilian, Samuel Kanyon Doe, who declared himself Head of State on state radio, ELBC, after leading a successful military coup, overthrowing the True Whig Party government and murdering President William Richard Tolbert. He became the first non-Americo Liberian to become President of the nation.
At the helm of power, Head of State Doe would surround himself with politicians who criticized the Tolbert administration for allegedly not heeding to the plight of the Liberian people. These politicians would dance to his rhythms and teach him political and economic philosophies, arming the once high school dropout with education and intellectual techniques. By 1985, Head of State Doe would have earned an honorary doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) from the University of Seoul, South Korea.
Doe, in return, would valuably use his education to create opportunities and jumpstart development projects for nation growth. Between 1980 and 1985, President Doe would accumulate approximately US$500 million from the United States government, apparently as a payback for helping the US to protect Africa from the expansion of the Soviet Union. The then Liberian leader would use the funds and other donations to initiate a number of development projects, including the construction of the African Plaza, National Housing and Savings Bank, the Babangida Highway, and the Samuel K. Doe Sports (SKD) Complex and Nancy B. Doe Market, which were in his name and the name of his wife.
President Doe would propose that government constructs buildings to host its ministries and agencies, and in that effort he built the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense. However, Doe’s Defense Ministry’s building would later be demolished by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the construction of the Inter-Ministerial Complex.
A native of Grand Gedeh County, President Doe would begin to construct for himself a mansion in that county and, in 1989, propose the pavement of the Ganta-Harper Highway and the Gbarnga-Mendikorma Highway. However, his regime was short-lived after the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), headed by Maj. Charles G. Taylor, began to invade from Butuo, Nimba County.
Thirty-one (31) years after his demise, ex-President Doe’s plan of paving the Ganta-Harper and Gbarnga-Mendikorma highways is being implemented by President George Manneh Weah.
The Gbarnga-Mendikorma Highway is estimated at US$430 million and sponsored by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Saudi Fund for Development, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. The project was broken ground for in 2017, and the Ministry of Public Works has disclosed that all is on course for the implementation of the project. The Ganta-Harper Highway is being sponsored by the African Development Bank, and the project is on-going.
When completed, President Weah will again raise his head high in pride and dignity for implementing projects that have been on blueprint for over 30 years. Part IV tomorrow.