Disagreement over Speaker’s market building

By Patrick N. Mensah, Maryland County

Citizens of Pleebo Sodokan, Maryland County Electoral District#2, are fiercely resisting Speaker Bhofa Chambers’ decision to rename the Pleebo Town Small Market as Prophet William Poede Wade Harris Market Hall.

The newly constructed market building with an estimated cost of US$20,000 contains facilities such as toilets, storage, and stalls for marketers.

The late Prophet William Poede Wade Harris was reportedly a pioneer spiritualist from Maryland County and an ancestor of Speaker Chambers.

The Speaker, who represents the district, constructed the market building for his constituents and subsequently renamed it in memorial of one of his ancestors, to the displeasure of residents and marketers.

Angry marketers and residents note that Prophet William Poede Wade Harris Market Hall was not the initial name for the market, so it should be scratched immediately.

According to them, the late Prophet Harris did so many mysterious things prior to his death, adding “So attributing his name to the market hall shows different thing for us as marketers.”

They insist that if the name persists, it could frighten people, who knew the late prophet’s history in the county but provide no detail.

“We can’t allow this to happen at this time; this market was never called by that name and the name of this market has been the Pleebo Town Small Market, so we can’t maintain or allow any attached name to this market.”

They urge Speaker Chambers to remove the name from the market building.

The marketers’ objection is similar to what others raised during the formal turnover ceremony of the market building earlier on Friday, August 6, 2021.

Prior to the ceremony, the marketers and other residents who graced the occasion were seen hauling and pulling with staff from the Speaker’s Office and other local authorities of the district over the change of name.

The concerned citizens were assured the Pleebo Town Small Market wouldn’t have been changed but since the August 6, 2021, program to present, the name Prophet William Peode Wade Harris Market Hall still remains on the market building. 

The turnover ceremony was attended by elders and traditional chiefs, women and youth groups, local officials of the Liberia Marketing Association, Maryland County Agriculture Coordinator Christian Natt, Pleebo Sodoken Statutory District Superintendent Aloysius Williams, Pleebo City Mayor Wellington Kyne, and Women In Peacebuilding Network Maryland County Coordinator, Joan Taylor, among others.

According to the constituency coordinator in the Office of the Speaker, Robert P. Weah, construction for the market started in 2017 as a legislative project, but previous contractors absconded after they failed to live up to the agreement, so Speaker Chambers decided to use his personal resources to finance the completion of the building. https://thenewdawnliberia.com/maryland-county-gets-multi-million-dollar-palm-mill/Editing by Jonathan Browne