In her State of the Nation address to the nation on Monday, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf painted a glowing review of the infrastructure development in the country. This image was one that differed drastically from the realities on the ground.

“I encourage you to drive from Coca Cola Factory to Gbarnga,” Sirleaf defiantly challenged the nation, as she boasted of the supposed gains her administration had made. But that section of the road has only incrementally improved over the past three years, to the point of not even being noticeable.

While a good portion of the road is smoothly paved, large sections of the road are still full of rocky potholes or are simply unpaved, especially around Kakata, a large stretch of road between Weala and Salala, from Tubman’s farm to Felelah, and from the Gbarnga police station to Suakoko. The condition is so bad that prudent drivers have to slow down to a speed that makes traveling those long distances unbearable.

The section of the road between Salala and Weala in Bong County. Photo: Lloyd Massah

The president did not only tout her perceived progress on the highways. Sirleaf also gave Tubman Boulevard in greater Monrovia as an example. “Drive along the SKD Boulevard or the Tubman Boulevard or along our various avenues,” she said. Unfortunately for the president, we can actually follow her instructions and check for ourselves.

Driving on Tubman Boulevard from the SKD Boulevard Junction to the Duport Road Junction, one will find roads that are deteriorating with no visible efforts by any government agency to rehabilitate the road. At the SD Cooper Junction, huge craters loom ahead of drivers who often have to maneuver in the lanes of oncoming traffic to avoid them. The same is true further down the boulevard at GSA Road Junction.

When it comes to the water and sewer system, it is worth noting that the president did not mention the month that the entire Monrovia spent without water nearing the end of the year, a situation that should be unacceptable in any large city. In addition to that month, locations such as parts of the Duport Road community spent an additional month without water due to uncoordinated construction.

On electricity, while it is certainly a triumph that Liberia’s electricity generation capacity has increased and will be increasing even more, that increased capacity is pointless if one cannot actually get connected to the grid. It is difficult for ordinary citizens to get connected because of a variety of issues with the connection request process at the Liberia Electricity Corporation.

To Sirleaf’s credit, things have improved significantly since 2006 when she first took office. However, they have stalled in the past few years. The State of the Nation address should serve more as a progress report on the previous year than a review of her entire time in office. If Sirleaf’s administration truly believes that conditions have improved significantly over the past year or two, she may not act with the necessary urgency needed to rectify those issues.

Featured photo by Africa Progress Panel