MONROVIA – The Press Union of Liberia has renewed its appeal to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to help complete construction of its long-awaited national headquarters, while openly revisiting the troubled history surrounding a US$100,000 contribution made during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
PUL President Julius K. Kanubah made the appeal on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the Second Annual Presidential Media Dinner at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, turning what was expected to be an evening of celebration into a pointed call for institutional support and accountability.
Kanubah told President Boakai that the Union remains committed to constructing its headquarters on land acquired since 1997, envisioning the facility as a national home for press freedom, professional development, ethical journalism and the protection of journalists.
He asked the President to support efforts to finally complete the project.
The appeal, however, was accompanied by an unusually candid account of what Kanubah described as the PUL’s “terrible experience” with the US$100,000 contribution associated with the Sirleaf administration.
According to Kanubah, the contribution was intended to support the proposed PUL headquarters, but what began as a blessing eventually became a serious institutional problem for the Union.
“It was a blessing that unfortunately turned into a curse for our Union,” Kanubah said in describing the episode.
He said questions surrounding the accountability and management of the money have continued despite a previous PUL administration withdrawing the matter from court in the name of reconciliation.
The PUL president did not present the old controversy as a reason for abandoning the headquarters project. Instead, he argued that the experience reinforces the importance of transparency as the Union pursues the construction of its permanent national home.
Kanubah stressed that despite the accountability challenges surrounding the earlier contribution, the PUL remains committed to transparency and to completing a project connected to land acquired nearly three decades ago.
The headquarters appeal therefore carries both institutional and symbolic significance.
For journalists, the proposed facility is envisioned not simply as office space but as a permanent center for professional development, ethical journalism and the defense of press freedom.
Kanubah also reminded President Boakai that previous administrations had left identifiable marks on Liberia’s media landscape.
The Sirleaf administration, he noted, enacted the Freedom of Information Act, endorsed the Declaration of Table Mountain and supported the proposed PUL headquarters financially.
The Weah administration, meanwhile, enacted the Kamara Abdullai Kamara Act, which removed several criminal penalties associated with speech, and provided headquarters for the Female Journalists Association of Liberia.
Against that history, Kanubah effectively placed a new opportunity before President Boakai.
He urged the administration to make the Second Presidential Media Dinner more than an annual gathering where government and journalists meet, wine and dine.
“May this dinner serve as a defining moment of intervention toward the construction of the PUL Headquarters,” he appealed.
The request gives President Boakai an opportunity to attach his administration’s name to a project the Union has pursued for years.
It also comes with an important lesson from the Union’s own history. Kanubah’s remarks made clear that any future support must be accompanied by strong accountability, transparent management and institutional safeguards.
The PUL now hopes that the headquarters project can move beyond years of expectation and become a physical symbol of Liberia’s commitment to journalism and press freedom.
For an organization representing journalists across the country, the proposed building would be more than bricks and mortar.
It would be a permanent national home for the people whose profession is charged with holding power accountable.
And at the Presidential Media Dinner, the Union made clear that it believes the Boakai administration has an opportunity to help finally build it.
