MONROVIA – A heavy security presence has been deployed across central Monrovia today, Wednesday, December 17, 2025, ahead of a planned protest organized by activist Mulbah K. Morlu and the December 17 Protest Coalition, heightening tensions between demonstrators and state authorities over the right to peaceful assembly.
Large contingents of joint state security officers were observed stationed around the Capitol Building and the Executive Mansion in the early hours of Wednesday, signaling heightened alertness as protesters prepare to march under the banner “LEAD OR LEAVE.”
The security deployment includes officers clad in full riot gear and armed with batons, firearms, tear gas, and water cannons. Firefighters were also placed on standby, while police were seen using a Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) water tanker to fill and heat water cannons, indicating readiness for crowd-control operations.
Despite the show of force, Mulbah Morlu, who is leading the protest, has insisted that demonstrators will assemble at the Executive Mansion grounds. Authorities, however, have stated that the area is not designated for protests, a position that has been strongly rejected by the organizers.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, titled “STAND REJECTS LAWLESS POLICE ORDERS: ‘YOU CANNOT STOP US FROM ASSEMBLING WHERE YOU PROTESTED YESTERDAY,’” STAND described the police restriction as “historically dishonest, legally baseless, and politically selective.” The statement was signed by Morlu as Chairman of STAND and the We the People Movement.
The group accused the government of hypocrisy, noting that the same Executive Mansion grounds were freely used for protests and assemblies in 2019 and 2020 by those now in power. According to STAND, the sudden declaration of the grounds as “off-limits” is driven by fear of public accountability rather than any genuine legal or security concern.
STAND emphasized that constitutional rights cannot be suspended or relocated based on political convenience. “Constitutional rights do not expire, relocate, or disappear when political power changes hands. What was lawful yesterday cannot become unlawful today by convenience or command,” the statement asserted.
Responding to police claims that the Christmas season necessitates postponing the protest for public safety reasons, STAND dismissed the argument as disingenuous. The group argued that millions of Liberians are facing hunger, unemployment, poverty, and alleged abuses by state actors, stressing that there is “nothing festive about suffering, corruption, and impunity.”
The protest organizers further called on the Liberia National Police to publicly commit to nonviolence, including refraining from the use of excessive force, tear gas, or live ammunition, and avoiding intimidation, harassment, or arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters.
Warning against intimidation, STAND stated that any attempt to suppress or violently disrupt the peaceful protest would rest squarely on those issuing such orders. Reaffirming its position, the group declared that the December 17 “LEAD OR LEAVE” protest will proceed today as planned, insisting it will be peaceful, orderly, and constitutional, and concluding that Liberia belongs to its people, not to uniforms, offices, or temporary occupants of power.
