In the bustling heart of Monrovia, where the hum of commerce has long been driven by petty traders selling secondhand clothes, shoes and household goods, frustration is mounting.
Since late July, dozens of vendors who once crowded Michelin Street near the Aminata gas station say they have been barred from selling, leaving families without their main source of survival.
"We don't want to sell drugs; we want to sell our valued clothes," pleaded Abraham Corneh, head of a group of street traders, at a Wednesday news conference. "This decision by the government has brought untold hardship on us and our families because this is what we have been doing to feed our homes and send our children to school."
The crackdown followed the Independence Day celebrations on July 26, when Monrovia City Police swept through Michelin Street, removing vendors and seizing goods. Officers cited orders from City Mayor John-Charuk Siafa, though traders insist the enforcement contradicts earlier agreements reached with the city.
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An Agreement Tested
Earlier this year, in the first months of President Joseph N. Boakai's administration, Mayor Siafa held a series of meetings with the Federation of Petty Traders and Informal Workers Union of Liberia (FEPTIWUL). Those talks produced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) designating certain streets for vending and providing training on waste management.
Under the MOU, Randall and Ashmun streets were approved as vending zones, while Broad Street was prohibited. The agreement also created a vendor-led task force responsible for cleaning waste in their blocks.
According to Corneh, Michelin Street was never listed among the restricted areas. "The City Mayor said there will be no selling on Broad Street only, and that on all of the other streets vendors will be able to conduct their business," he said. "Since then, we were able to clean our block."
The recent raids, he argued, violate that arrangement and were carried out without consultation with FEPTIWUL.
Struggling for Survival
For many of Monrovia's petty traders, street vending is not just an occupation but a lifeline in a city with limited formal employment opportunities. Their daily earnings pay for food, school fees and rent.
"This is not luxury business. This is survival," Corneh said. "We have children sitting home because we cannot pay their school fees."
The vendors say they are open to compromise. They have identified a building opposite the Aminata gas station, near the Ecobank branch on Ashmun Street, and are seeking to negotiate with the landlord for space to move their stalls indoors.
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Despite their willingness to adapt, the traders insist they cannot continue in limbo. They are now appealing directly to President Boakai to intervene and resolve what they describe as "a crisis of survival."
"We are not criminals," Corneh said. "We are mothers and fathers trying to make an honest living. We are begging our president to look into our plight."
