Appointed to Head $30M Project; Broh Beats the Heat

Broh lands on her feet

Not unlike the marvelous Phoenix (a mythical bird that when killed, rises back to life from its own ashes) former acting Monrovia City Mayor Mary Broh will now head the Project Implementation Unit for the US$30 million Omega Village project in Paynesville, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf yesterday announced.

 “Mary’s methods may not have pleased everyone, but there can be very little argument that she got the job done,” President Johnson Sirleaf said in a statement she delivered yesterday in response to the former Mayor’s resignation.

 “Because of her hard work, Monrovia is turning into a city comparable with others in our sub-region. Her challenges and achievements ought to remind us that our goal of transformation – of changing from what used to be to what is possible – will be lost unless and until we are ready to make the needed sacrifices,” the Liberian leader further said.

The warrior princess, Mary T. Broh, had over the weekend tendered her resignation to the Office of the President. The Executive Mansion said the resignation letter had been acknowledged and was being processed. Broh’s resignation was something that many fought for, yet a development that many patriots lamented as Mary was one of a kind when it came to performance. 

Mary had again and again proven herself Ellen’s most reliable lieutenant when it came to taking on what many considered the impossible, yet getting the job done.

Broh’s resignation came barely two weeks after she, assisted by some influential women, prevented what they considered the wrongful incarceration of suspended Montserrado County Superintendent Grace Kpaan.

Grace had been told on Thursday, February 22 – by the members of the House of Representatives that she was going to spend the next 72 hours in a prison cell, far from a place somewhere out in Logan Town that she called home. It didn’t happen.

And if it took someone to make sure it didn’t happen, who better than Mary Tanyonoh (warrior princess) Broh to ride in to the rescue, scattering all in her path and making off with the prize: Grace Kpaan? As usual, Mary did it her way – the way she has always put aside things she did not agree with and ‘grabbed the bull by its horns’ – and once again, though, perhaps, for the final time, she got the job done!    

 
Former Mayor Broh was however arrested by the Justice Ministry and charged by the Monrovia City Court with “obstructing government operations” on last Tuesday.

But in her statement yesterday, President Johnson Sirleaf admitted that “it was with a heavy heart, filled with gratitude, that she had accepted the resignation of the dynamic Acting Mayor of the City of Monrovia, Mary Broh.”

Recounting Mary’s steadfast accomplishments in Government, the President said “In her letter of resignation, Mary detailed the scope of her service to our country and the resources she was able to mobilize from international entities in support of her many achievements.

“We will all miss the dynamism, commitment and integrity of Mary Broh who worked tirelessly and passionately to transform the City of Monrovia. From constructing the boulevard on Broad Street to beautifying the City Center, to fencing the Palm Grove Cemetery to bring dignity to the dead, Mary’s prints are so indelibly placed on our Capital, that she will not soon be forgotten.”

 President Sirleaf reminded Liberians that Mary will also be remembered for putting on her jeans and her cap on the first Saturday of every month, to personally engage and work with citizens in cleaning their communities. And today, the phrase “Mary Broh Saturday” has become etched in the minds of every Liberia, as they obey the Ordinance on “Monrovia Clean-Up Day. 

“For Monrovia, and for Liberia, thank you, Mary; thank you for your commitment; thank you for your unstinting service to your country,” the President added.

According the Liberian leader, before she took on the challenge of transforming our City, Mary restructured the Passport Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ensuring a more effective service. Later, she reformed the procedures of how goods left the Freeport of Monrovia, thereby effectively reducing theft and exploitation.

But the controversial former mayor is not completely getting out of the picture. She has been mandated to exercise oversight responsibility over the implementation of a three-year-old project. Mary will now manage the US$30 million project as directed by the President.

“In the meantime, I have appointed Mary Broh to head the Project Implementation Unit for the Omega Village in Paynesville, for which plans are being finalized to accommodate all of the services required by a community.  That project, which has lingered for close to three years, will now get what it needs to get it done and to move forward,” the President announced in her statement.

In her January 28, annual message, President Johnson Sirleaf informed Liberians that Government had identified and is currently surveying 452 acres of land in the Omega Tower community for the development of comprehensive low- to middle-income housing estates to help with the relocation of the Redlight Market and the establishment of facilities by the National Transport Union.

The survey conducted by the National Housing Authority indicates that it will require more than US$30 million to relocate hundreds of families, owing to the growing demand to ensure that our people live in dignity, free from hazardous conditions, the President said.

Additionally, private developers have started construction of housing for middle- and high-level income buyers.

“The need to invest in a vigorous, low-cost housing project is urgent. It is expected that the facility to support mortgage-lending will provide access and ownership to additional homeowners,” the President concluded.