GANTA, Nimba – Ganta’s Mayor Benjamin Dokpa has warned individuals and institutions to begin removing the name ‘Ganta’ from billboards and other signage and to replace it with what he said is the official name of the city, ‘Gompa.’

Speaking on the Voice of Gompa’s Have Your Say morning show, Dokpa said ‘Ganta’ is the nickname of the city and it should not supersede the legal name of the city.

“This is not something that I got from the blue sky to bring down to our people here,” Dokpa said. “This is something that is legally documented, that this place was once called ‘Ganta’ and because of the act of the National Legislature, it was changed to Gompa City.”

The mayor acknowledged that people might still informally use the city’s unofficial name, as is done with Gbehzon in reference to the Grand Bassa city of Buchanan. However, he advised that on legal documents and on signs, the city’s legal name must be used.

Dokpa had already issued a radio announcement which identified the end of December as the deadline for all signage to be replaced with the city’s official name. Failure to heed to this deadline, the mayor said, would result in the city painting over the ‘Ganta’ on all signage.

The name ‘Ganta’ was an official name for the area until the city was incorporated through an act of the Legislature in 1977, thereby, taking on the new name of ‘Gompa City.’ However, residents and other visitors coming in the city continuously used the ever popular ‘Ganta.’

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah