Ministry of Health in Congo Town: Completed after Nearly a Quarter-Century (by CNQC)

Images from the M2M Architectural Tour.

©2008-2009 Moved 2 Monrovia

The Moved 2 Monrovia Architectural Tour's 2nd structure is the Ministry of Health building in Congo Town, which during the original slideshow was assembled was a ruin. The Doe-era complex was never completed and was then occupied by squatters, (with the window openings covered in reed mats), who were later evicted.

The Ministry in November 2010:

painted white and cleared of refugees, but otherwise untended.

Image Courtesy McCropDers blog.

The building has long been one of several monumental Monrovian edifices that might be characterized as "once and future" --whose construction was abandoned as the country deteriorated, and now joins the ranks of several large buildings finished out over the last several months. The complex was handed over to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare a month ago, somewhere around 25 years after its construction commenced, in a typically grand ceremony with President Sirleaf as the keynote addressor.

The near-complete Ministry, November 2011. Image Courtesy TLCAfrica

Also a guest of honor was the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Liberia, as the financing of the reconstruction project was a gift from the Chinese government to Liberia. The construction work, although coordinated by the Ministry of Public Works, was undertaken by the Qingjian Group (part of the massive and decades-old CNQC) which has won a number of construction contracts here in Monrovia (and is not the only Chinese construction company in operation here), including the Royal Hotel and the new Chinese Embassy nearby on the Congo Town Back Road.

The Ministry in December, as CNQC was completing its work.

Note the Chinese characters on the zinc sheets at the far lower left of the bottom photo.

©2011 Moved 2 Monrovia.

Architecturally speaking, the never-til-now-completed structure did not change radically during is makeover. Looking much more like a hospital or perhaps a motor inn than a government ministry, the building's several unique elements remain intact, including the rounded stairwell tower at its eastern end. This, combined with a set of giant porthole windows at its sides, presents a nautical face, like the prow of an early ocean liner, to motorists entering Congo Town from Paynesville. The elongated body of the main hall, flanked with long overhanging eaves like the balconies of passenger decks, are the distinct characteristics of a cruise ship.

The front entrance, near the opposite end of the building, still recalls the golden era of leisure travel, but land journeys by motorcar instead of sea crossings. Like a roaside Howard Johnson's, an oversized porte-cochere, strangely squared-off, is more of a type of an emergency room entrance or a hotel lobby than a government office. This, along with a small wing at the northwesterly corner of the building, are topped with flared, pagoda-like roofs (although the concrete cube almost completely covers the roofline of the entryway).

The history of these curious elements is a bit confused, and while I have to slide into anecdote to recount what seems to be the background, let the photographic evidence above keep the record clear, that the ("mainland") Chinese diplomats and contractors met this dilapidated pile with this oriental embellishment existent. However, the Far Eastern architectural flourishes seemed to have been themselves introduced by the other China: I have been told that the building commenced under Taiwanese assistance, which was then was halted when the Government of Liberia switched recognition to the People's Republic.

I have no confirmation of this, though, or any information as to whether the celestial ceiling was an intentional detail to recall the building's Asian origins, but see the comments of this FrontPage Africa story which mentions some of this history. Interesting to consider that the governments of Taipei and Beijing collaborated, several decades apart, to give the Government of Liberia a new ministry.

The approach from ELWA junction on the Boulevard.

©2012 Moved 2 Monrovia

Aside from its peach-and-pink paint job, which makes the building look spiffy and somewhat feminine, the only major addition the complex is its most controversial: the property is now surrounded by a high concrete wall, topped by barbed wire, which many residents of the city see as unfitting for a government building which should be open to the public. Overall, the building's pristine façade contrasts negatively with the worn and under-stocked hospitals throughout Liberia, as it is not an ideal architectural metaphor to have a Ministry of Health looking better than the pubic health facilities that it is charged with administering.

A view past the gate and barbed-wire-topped concrete wall.

©2012 Moved 2 Monrovia

Incidentally, during the hand-over ceremony it was announced that the Chinese government would offer to build a US$50m ministerial complex for the Liberian government. So that would presumably include more work for CQNC and other Chinese construction companies in Liberia.

A New Building for an Old Purpose

One detail of the election coverage which I didn't remember to write about last fall was from a BBC article from October 10, by Jonathan Paye-Layleh: Can Liberia's leading lady fight off election challenge? The article included this poorly-cropped picture of a building under construction at the time, near 5th Street and Tubman Boulevard in Sinkor:

Caption: "Central Monrovia has been transformed since the end of the war"

I thought the text and photo a bit curious, especially as they didn't do much better at accurately reporting on the nuance and detail of Monrovia's cosmetic and atmospheric changes during the recent boom, despite Mr. Paye-Layleh being a Liberian based in Monrovia:

Mrs Sirleaf's campaign team cites Monrovia's development as a symbol of her achievements.

'More than 75% successful'Most of Tubman Boulevard, the city's main road, once bore the scars of conflict, with buildings dilapidated and riddled with bullets.

But today Tubman Boulevard - named after Liberia's longest-serving President William Tubman, an uncle of Winston Tubman - is tarred and shiny new buildings are springing up - including residential flats, banks, the offices of airline companies and six of Monrovia's leading supermarkets - four of which are newly established.

Most of Tubman Boulevard, the city's main road, once bore the scars of conflict, with buildings dilapidated and riddled with bullets.

I forgot about the article, but remained curious about the building, as it is one of the larger non-residential multistory buildings going up in the city. Presumably another air-conditioned office building, like so many that are transforming the cityscape. Perhaps one of the new foreign concessionaires, or even a domestic conglomerate, was constructing new office space?

After the all-too-familiar aluminum-paneling-and-tinted-glass finish, which seems to be the final skin of nearly every new building in Monrovia, the block was crowned off with a diagonal corner cap. Its brow sports a neon title of the major tenant, common enough around the world, but it reveals the building as the new office tower for LISCR, the Liberia International Ship and Corporate Registry-- the unusual, U.S.-owned and operated company which administers the registration of ocean-going vessels on behalf of the Liberian Government. Liberia's "flag of convenience" has the second largest fleet of vessels in the world-- 11% of the craft plying the planet's oceans. This has been for decades one of the government's primary sources of revenue, although too often shrouded in secrecy and lacking proper transparency.

So rather than a symbol of foreign investment, the block is another swanky office block for government business, and therefore, not a good example of any sort of "transformation" of the city, other than the slick cosmetic makeover, which is often only skin-deep.

Continue reading the main story

That Sinkor Feeling

The beach at 15th Street, Sinkor.

There aren't a great many cities in the world where you can look down the street and see waves crashing on beach, or the sky meeting the water on the horizon. Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Nice, Miami... Monrovia. Surrounded by water on several sides, Monrovia is in a naturally beautiful setting, with the waves of the Atlantic crashing on orange beaches only a short distance away from anyplace in the city.

This is especially true of Sinkor, the mid-section of the city that has been my home for most of the last four years. Mostly laid out in a grid pattern with numbered cross-streets, Sinkor straddles the narrow center of the peninsula, with a "swamp side" to the north of Tubman Boulevard, toward the marshy meander of the Mesurado river, and the "beach side" to the south, facing the ocean.

16th Street, Sinkor.

While both are quiet and upscale residential neighborhoods, home to many of the city's embassies, it is the oceanside section which has been Monrovia's leafiest and most affluent area for decades. Originally elite families built stately mansions here on the square city lots, just blocks from the beach. Several of these are some of the last buildings in the city still inhabited by squatters and un-rehabilitated. A greater number of these are now high-walled NGO headquarters, and an increasing number have been given over to the Ellen-era building boom: there are now a half-dozen recently-completed multistory apartment tower complexes in the area, with another four or five under construction, as developers rush to finish out apartments that rent out for Manhattan-rate prices.

12th Street, Sinkor.

In the past few months, it is not just the walls of these concrete constructions that have been bricked up: the quiet, sandy ends of several of Sinkor's little streets, some of which are still pot-holed (or even never paved in the first place) have been closed off with cinderblock.

9th Street, Sinkor.

This is apparently the solution decided upon to impede access to the beach by people who mine beach sand for construction, although this continues to go on unabated just in other sections of the city, and I've also been informed that this is to restrict those who would use it as either a toilet, or rubbish bin, or both. Never mind that the much less-affluent majority of the city's residents resort to using the beach as a bathroom out of desperate necessity, and that maybe the beach could be better tended if people were employed to take care of it, rather than have some governmental authority restrict public access to a common amenity.

A sign at 18th Street proclaims "Sinkor Beach Patrol"

but gives no indication that this an actual, acting body,

merely imploring the public to keep the beach clean for children.

There is also the question of safety, as wanderers can also find themselves locked on the beach, which doesn't sound helpful if you encounter someone unfriendly. It has also had the predictable effect that the metal doors in these walls are now guarded by young men who attempt to charge others for access, which may or may not have been anticipated when this project was thought up.

I imagine it also occurred to no one that one of this often very harsh and ugly city's few moments of serenity and beauty, the vistas down its streets to the ocean, was being lost, and replaced by yet more hideous concrete block.

The Mid-Dries

Suffering Sinkor under a Saharan Sky.

The New Year in Monrovia is usually one of this city's most pleasant periods: for about four to six weeks, from early January to mid-February, the pepper coast experiences "the mid-Dries," when the humidity drops, the breeze picks up, and the air is neither thick with moisture nor bludgeoning with the blasting force of the sun.

This period coincides with the appearance of the Harmattan, a high-level weather pattern that brings Saharan sand south to the coast, from Nigeria to Cape Verde, and often cloaks coastal cities from Accra to Conkary in a low-visibility haze.

North America hardly has any named winds, so part of the romance of many ex-patriate West Africans' experience is constantly bemoan the Harmattan (whether their pronunciation is more Manhattan or closer to Benneton is apparently a matter of choice), even when it is bringing welcome relief from the scorching sun of the dry season rather than the noxious choke which cause such fear for the northern Sahara's sandy onslaughts of similar appellation.

The Harmattan Horizon: the ocean's edge disappears.

I am no meteorologist, so I'm in no position to describe these phenomena nor link them together, but while this year's mid-dry period has been welcomely temperate, the dust storms have been remarkably overbearing.

Learn 2 Speak Liberian:

Fog, Haze, Dust Storm = "Dew"

Liberians seem to limit their naming and observing of this phenomenon to their typically tangential word-usage: repurposing the word "dew" to apply to a high-altitude dust storm, which may in fact contain moisture but is more substantially sand than water. It is true that the low-level cover does look foggy: one morning this month the Executive Mansion was hidden behind a shiny ground cloud, unseeable from the street.

Locals also don't respond kindly to the drop in temperature: winter coats, caps and hoods are donned; when in other seasons it is mercilessly stuffy inside their ventless homes and bedrooms, Monrovians complain of suffering from "colds" and other illnesses, shivering as the weather approximates an Arizona evening for a few days.

Congo Town cloaked in haze.

This year, the dust storms have been the talk of the town, Roberts International Airport was completely shut down (flights in Ghana and elsewhere were also cancelled). Reportedly, some Delta flights nearly reached Liberian airspace before turning around to return to Accra. While the outside air temperature never dropped below 70F, The New Dawn newspaper screeched of "thick dew and severe cold" causing chaos at the country's principal international gateway (emphasis added):

A rather abrupt change in the weather condition here in the last few days characterized by thick dew and severe cold is said to be impeding smooth landing of commercial aircrafts at the country's main airport - the Roberts International Airport or RIA in Margibi County, leading to the daily loss of revenue.

Most airlines were unable to land here on Wednesday due to dew falling, which has obstructed visibility.

Sources at the RIA on condition of anonymity hinted the New Dawn Liberia that due to the natural causes (dew falling); aircrafts did not land at the airport on Wednesday, but at least one was expected to have landed Thursday night, February 9th.

Notwithstanding, it is yet to be confirmed by relevant authorities claims that a special flight landed at the RIA yesterday, while another flight was expected last night.

Efforts to contact the financial and technical sections at the airport to ascertain the level of financial losses being sustained as a result of the bad weather have not materialized.

Prior to the escalation of global climate change, which no doubt is affecting Liberia today, dew usually fell in January during morning hours characterized by dried air.

Liberia had dense forests, but experts have warned persistently that shifting cultivation and deforestation (by farmers and loggers) could endanger the country's rich forests. Local farmers here usually do not replace trees by replanting, thus leaving the country vulnerable to climatic challenges.

Meanwhile, in town, trees, cars and buildings were coated in a fine dust; the mid-dries made the mid-rises of Central Monrovia became mere outlines in the haze. The normally-overpowering sun became only a single low-watt bulb covered in cobwebs. While this might describe a stifling, suffering experience, the air stirred with a small breeze and the thermometers dropped enough to give the air-conditioners a much-needed break, and window-screens checked to be left open in the evenings.

Proximity

Near Bamako. Delta Air Lines from Accra to Atlanta, January 2012.

A frank confession for an Expat Blogger: I haven't really travelled very much in Africa. Although I have lived on the continent for hundreds of days, I have only been to a handful of the landmass's more than 50 countries. I've yet to canvas the continent Cape-to-Cairo--and haven't even been to either city. Nearly all my movement has been dictated by the demands of work--tight travel schedules, repeat journeys to the same cities, little time for exploration.

While I haven't yet walked the streets of Timbuktu or climbed Kilimanjaro, and I haven't set foot in Morocco or Mauritania, I've been close-- and not just in a sense that I live several countries away.

Air France Paris-Conakry-Monrovia, July 2011.

Before ever traveling to Africa it was a shape on a map--more exactly, an interlocking puzzle of scores of shapes--even the large ones tiny on a single page of the atlas. The angular borders of the former colonies made them into figures, dashing and regal: outlines of origami cranes, with beaked faces like Cameroon, and cromb-crowned heads like Mali or Chad, others small, narrow tongues touching the outside, like Togo or the Gambia.

I used to daydream of finally one day traveling to Africa: looking down on that landmass from the window of a plane, years before I had ever been on a flight. I imagined in dark green, smoky with rising heat. The illustration of the map would become real.

One day, several autumns ago, that dream came true, although not over a dense tropical jungle ending at sandy coast, but over the California-like seafront mountains of Algeria.

The first glimpse of the African continent: Over the coast of Algeria,

KLM from Amsterdam to Accra, October 2008

Since then, I have flow south over the Sahara nine times in five years, usually landing at Accra or Monrovia but also Dakar, Conakry, and Abidjan. I've also flown another dozen times between various countries: Monrovia-Accra frequently, but I've been as far as Nairobi and back.

Kenya Airways, Monrovia-Accra, November 2011.

Over Kenya. Kenya Airways Nairobi-Accra-Monrovia, November 2008.

While my travels have been limited to a short list of countries, and even then not very far beyond the principal cities, I've crossed over tens of thousands of miles of African territory from up in an airplane--much of it great zones which I would never traverse overland.

Brussels Airlines, Monrovia-Abidjan-Brussels, April 2010.

I've flown over the desert at the top of Mali, and the lower-right of Mauritania's trapezoid, squinting down at the mysterious emptiness, bright golden mountains of sand. I've crossed over the forested stretches of West Africa in the night, only the occasional cluster of small lights interrupting the darkness.

The Sahara. KLM Amsterdam-Accra, May 2009.

As I drift off to sleep, the seatback screen glows green and yellow with the geography below, as the plane hums past cities that still exist merely on the pages of books: Bouaké, Bissau, and Bangui; Nouakchott, Niamey and N'Zérékoré. Zooming over the vast corners of these huge shapes, no longer just outlines on an atlas page under my nose, but the closest fixed earth to my body- in that basic sense, they become visited.

Over northernmost Mali, aboard Brussels Airlines Brussels-Monrovia, January 2012.

Although just as brief, it is only more vivid a visit on a cloudless day. I haven't walked the streets of Casablanca, but for a moment I saw their arrangement with my own eyes. The Niger, the Congo, the Ubangi-- although I lack passport stamps from any country in which they flow, I've seen their warm, brown meander.

Top: Ceuta. Above: Casablanca. Seen from Air France Flight from Paris to Dakar, June 2009.

The Ubangi River. Nairobi-Accra, November 2008.

I have seen these places, fleetingly, from thousands of feet up with my own eyes. I have floated above them from that distance, passing at that speed, without touching that ground. I cannot determine whether to say that I have really been there.

Example: Flying to the Branch Office in Monrovia

As I occasionally do, I was image searching for "Airline Route Map" this weekend when I came across this .jpg, which is an example image from a website called imapbuilder.com, which offers some sort of personal-route-map-building software. A random image search yields random example; yet it immediately occurred to me that I might be one of the few people to come across this picture file and have it be relevant or useful, as-is--particularly in the last four weeks when I have made similar Carolina-to-Cape-Mesurado arcs across the central Atlantic, between the "Main Office" and the "Branch Office." I wonder if the programmer or marketer who made this sample intentionally picked Monrovia, as the large orange arrow most precisely points to Mamba Point.

Now Arriving

I try to avoid writing "sorry-I-haven't-been-blogging-frequently" posts; I sort of figure people (A) don't pine away for more M2M in my periods of absence and (B) have other media to consume and maybe (C) figure that I haven't managed my time sufficiently to post recently.

As way of excuse, I just arrived in Liberia, having flown, within a month's period, ROB-ACC-ATL-BOS-IAD-BRU-ABJ-ROB-ACC-ATL-JFK-ATL-ACC-ROB. This is the sort of schedule that a boy version of me would have only dreamed of (Back-and-forth to Africa twice in four weeks!), but adult me found to be an experience not to be repeated too soon.

This is especially true in that the last ATL-ACC-ROB part should be more accurately recorded as JFK-ATL-[depart for ACC-ROB, only to watch the plane do a U-turn on the inflight map, 3 hours in, when the plane is over the Atlantic, and head back to ATL, where we were told to get off the plane because not only was there a navigation system error, but more relevant to us Monrovia passengers a "curfew" issue meant that we would not again depart for ROB for two more days, after receiving this news we waited in line until 3AM to get hotel and insufficient meal vouchers, then collect our luggage, then live at the Atlanta Airport Sheraton for two days, then go back and finally complete] ATL-ACC-ROB. And I still don't have my second bag.

Atlanta was really interesting, actually, I had a great meal, bonded with my colleagues, and checked out a city I had wanted to see for a long time. Of course I'm still thrilled to travel and can't wait to do more of it. And although, as you can see from the iPhone shots above, I still geek out seeing "Monrovia" listed on any airport's departures board, much less a US airport, and loved seeing "ROB" on the tarmac board outside the gate, I seem to be less and less thrilled to actually fly. Which is a shame.

But I am back--Happy 2012--and have lots of ideas about great, legendary, gripping blog posts, which I may even sit down and type out some day soon. Until then....

Relda Cinema, Gone

What remained of the theater seating was piled off to be sold as scrap metal.

I was surprised and saddened to be driving down Tubman Boulevard in Sinkor on Saturday, 10 December, and come upon a gaping heap of twisted metal and broken concrete where one of the city's most beloved landmarks, the Relda Cinema, had sat forlorn for so many years.

Once a hotspot for the city's young crowd, and only one of several movie houses in Monrovia, which made the city seem so ultramodern in the midcentury (The Rivoli Cinema still stands on Broad Street, for the time being), the Relda had stood neglected and underused in the post-conflict period. It seemed that occasionally the theater was used as a cinema or other event space-- to charge for the viewing of video projects or sporting events. Monrovia doesn't have cinemas any more, merely video clubs, and even the former film palaces have been re-appropriated for the somewhat less grand past time.

Several bits of history were lost here, even if there is nothing remarkable in the 21st century about the Relda's rusted old truss frame, which provided a column-free theatre space, it is noteworthy that such technology was carefully employed so many decades ago in Liberia. The city surely has few other remaining examples. Likewise gone are a stately tree that stood in the front lot, along with a gold-painted statue, apparently called the Lappa Lady, which was reportedly removed by the original owner before the heavy machines were brought in.

Most frustratingly, no one bothered to save the gorgeous, vintage R-E-L-D-A letters from the from the building, the zinc cubes were likely torn by the backhoe and crushed by the concrete coming down on top.

Relda in its glory days, 1979. Image via Liberia77.com

Why was they Relda torn down now? Reportedly for a multistory office, retail, and apartment complex, which is the recent or near-future makeover of about half the blocks facing Tubman Boulevard in Central Sinkor. With surety of title still woefully inept for much of Monrovia's real estate, and with the city continuing to enjoy a huge boom with the influx of foreign investment and their high-salaried, ex-pat packaged executives, Monrovia continues to experience a massive building wave, especially of high-rise, full-service apartment towers, much to the expense of its heritage and historic buildings.

Ma Ellen, Not on Twitter

In the aftermath of the Presidential Run-0ff, someone from Harvard suggested that we all follow President Sirleaf on Twitter. Which might be a good idea, if anyone ever sent out messages from the account. But no one ever has.

This is perhaps interesting, given how prominent a role Twitter now plays in American politics, and media in general, and that even though there was a Presidential Debate at Monrovia City Hall, in which members of the Diaspora were able to submit questions via YouTube, and that many Liberians are either on Twitter, or, in far greater numbers, on Facebook, President Sirleaf and the UP camp saw no need to employ microblogging at any point during her reelection. She also doesn't exactly have a lot of followers, but I imagine she would if she ever sent something out.

The End

...of election season. The world's eyes look away from Liberia, and on to Penn State, apparently.

The Top Rumors of Liberia's Elections, So Far

Monrovia is so unique in many ways, one of which has been particularly pronounced this fall: constant waves of rumor and intrigue. America may have its cable chattering classes and plugged-in pundits, but this town is all tongue-wagging and tale-trading, which can give legs to some incredulous whoppers.

Since the start of the campaign season, the Monrovia rumor mill has been churning out such frequent, fantastical tales and apocryphal episodes that this town makes a rural boarding school look like a scientific review board.

Quite aside from theories involving the Nobel-prize committee rigging Liberia's elections, or any story having to do with Prince Johnson, here is a review of some of the biggest eyebrow-raisers to sweep this city since mid-September, with some follow-up, where possible, of what real and factual events might have fueled the collective imagination.

1A. A member of President Sirleaf's personal security was killed (by UN forces, other bodyguards, burglars, a lover, a rival, or himself) while attempting to:

a. assassinate the President while she was campaigning in Bong or Nimba County

b. help ambush her convoy in Bong or Nimba County

c. planning either (a) or (b) as part of the President's guard detail or advance security crew.

d. leaping in front of the President and taking a bullet for her during (a) or (b)

1B. A member of President Sirleaf's personal security died from a gunshot while:

a. fighting with his girlfriend

b. fighting over a girl

c. cleaning or toying with his gun

d. taking a bath or shower

e. falling under random attack by burglars

f. committing suicide

DATE OF RUMOR: September 24-26 and onwards

STATUS: REMAINS UNCLEAR. The only confirmed portion of this is that George WIlliams, a member of the President's special security service, died of a gunshot wound in Ganta. The extraordinary, early version of this rumor, that the President herself was shot at but only survived due to a bullet-proof vest and/or the intervention of Mr. WIlliams or another member of her security and/or UNMIL guard(s), seems to be totally untrue. Just what happened remains the subject of speculation, as timing (and location deep inside Prince Johnson's home turf) of such an individual's death from a bullet raises plenty of suspicions and details of the investigation have been little-broadcast and drowned out by later election coverage.

2. At the voting booth on election day, George Weah's vote was immediately invalidated by officials because Weah foolishly:

a. used too much ink to mark his thumb-print on the ballot, causing his ballot card to drip with ink, bleeding through the other side and causing potential invalidation of other votes in the sealed ballot box with so much gooey ink

b. dipped his finger in ink before he had voted, therefore technically being counted as having already voted even though he had yet to cast his ballot.

DATE: Story started around 12-14 October, the days after the election.

STATUS: UNTRUE. Although this tale sounds like a perfectly entertaining episode of the tired, never-ending myth, oh-that-Weah-is-just-a-dumb-jock, in fact pretty much the opposite happened in reality: Weah had taken took the opportunity of casting his valid vote to point out the shortcomings and potential pitfalls of the ink-dipping system in front of the media. The first clue that this story was off was that its not clear that poll station staff would have any authority to invalidate anyone's vote at the moment of casting the ballot.

3. Both a Unity Party District Office, and the CDC-Friendly Love FM Radio Station in Sinkor suffered fire damage within a 48 period, due to:

a. A crazed rebel mob sweeping from one end of town to the other in the middle of the night.

b. Factions of Political Parties looking to incite fear and chaos

c. The owners or the political parties themselves, trying to reposition themselves as victims of violence and chaos.

d. Looters/Apolitical Hooligans

DATE: Early Saturday, October 15th for UP office; The night of October 16/17 for Love FM Radio Station.

STATUS: CAUSE OF BOTH FIRES UNKNOWN, despite the arrest of suspects. Other than the fact that both structures suffered fire, it is unclear which of the above reasons is or are true. We can, thankfully, eliminate (a) of course, which was the apocalyptic version of choice in the early hours of Saturday when word first spread that a UP office was ablaze.

4. Ballots were stuffed and/or tampered with

DATE: 12 October onwards

STATUS: UNVERIFIED. Despite supporting photographic evidence, no independent body has confirmed these claims, which were put forth by the CDC. International monitors have largely praised the poll.

The photographs themselves have been questioned, as it seems incredible that an illegal operation to stuff or tamper with ballots under cover of night would welcome flash photography. Paradoxically, the report failed to gain widespread credibility seemingly because of its supporting photographic evidence, which was even shown on Al Jazeera for at least one news cycle.

5. The CDC Candidate, Winston Tubman, was rushed to the UN hospital with high-blood pressure, nearly having a coronary incident due to the sudden news that Prince Johnson was endorsing Sirleaf in the Second Round. Tubman was later flown to Ghana for treatment, even though this was masked as a campaign-related journey to consult with other West African politicians.

STATUS: MOSTLY TRUE, except for some important details. The early, theatrical rumor of Friday, that Tubman swooned with a near heart-attack because of the PYJ news, was easy to dismiss-- how would anyone know the cognitive trigger that causes another person's cardiac episode?

All the same, this is perhaps the most annoying and endless rumor episode, because (1) it was denied but was true at the time, and was otherwise handled poorly in terms of media and public relations by the Tubman/CDC camp (2) there is a big difference between, on the one hand, getting malaria or some other common ailment in Liberia and going to see a physician, who happens to work at a hospital, and on the other hand being rushed to the hospital with a serious condition which requires airlifting for treatment in another country.

With its outright denials of what was days later confirmed to be true, and otherwise lack of timely messaging on the situation, the story stayed way out in front of the CDC, to the point of open speculation in the press and social media that Tubman would withdraw from the run-off, and George Weah would move to the the top of the ticket in the second round.

5A. A major coalition of leading opposition parties, including the CDC is withdrawing from the elections.

5B. The CDC is withdrawing from/boycotting the run-off.

DATE: The coalition withdrawal was announced on 15 October, with threatened boycott by CDC being a constant refrain from then until the present.

STATUS: ???? As to the first part, News of a coalition withdrawal was true, even up to having put the declaration in writing, except a few days later the CDC and other small parties continued to be in.

Despite constant, strenuous, and confusingly contrary claims, the status of the second part is unclear, with daily reports that the CDC is serious, including a recent announcement of an official withdrawal--although its Presidential candidate Winston Tubman is publicly complaining that he wasn't consulted. Standing in a poll is sort of a binary position of either being in or not, but in this case, there is no point speculating on the ultimate outcome, despite official pronouncements. Only November 8th will tell whether the CDC is in fact part of the run-off.

6. National Elections Commission Chairman James Fromayan is being fired or is resigning, because:

a. it is the demand of the opposition due to fraud (see for example #4 and #5A/B above)

b. he mistakenly sent a letter to the CDC mixing up their results and misstating that they had the most votes in the first round

c. it is the behest of President Sirleaf and the Unity Party, to take the fall and undermine complaints about the close connections between NEC and the UP.

d. A combination of b and c.

DATE: Howling over NEC impartiality transformed into calls for Fromayan's resignation after the sloppy letter was circulated on 27 October. First broadcast of word of Fromayan's resignation came on the afternoon of 28 October, apparently on True FM, but no official announcement came until the afternoon of Sunday, 30 October.

STATUS: TRUE. Confirmed about 48 hours after it was everyone's lips, including talk radio in Monrovia, and the Chairman claimed the backwards-letter was not reason enough to resign, and the NEC's public information chief was sacked. Remarkably, the reasons stated in Fromayan's quote are basically all the above. His removal undermines the CDC's cries of injustice, and makes President Sirleaf look decisive and democratic. It is uncommonly frank anywhere to admit to falling on a sword for the sake of a patron, but especially for this town.