A few weeks ago, some students of the government-run University of Liberia took to the streets on Capitol Hill in Monrovia in protest against plans by the administration to increase tuition. The protest, resulting to a huge traffic jam, sealed the only two entrances of the University-opposite the Capitol Building and Foreign Ministry just adjacent the catholic-run University. The students’ expressed dissatisfaction was against the backdrop of the growing financial difficulties confronting them and their parents, accusing the university administration of increasing tuition at a very exorbitant level- from One-Hundred and Seventy-Five Liberian Dollars per credit hour to Five United States Dollars.

Though last weekend’s cabinet retreat may have been punctuated by the tension between House of Representatives and Montserrado County Superintendent Grace Kpaan, regarding the latter’s detention, which could not prevent President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf from expressing her frustration about the performance of some ministries and agencies of government.

The Commerce Ministry: Accounting for Japanese Rice, Fuel Proceeds is a Must

In less than a week, two strong dissenting voices have been directed at President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf – one from the opposition Congress for Democratic Change, and another from within Madam Sirleaf’s governing Unity Party against her leadership style.