Suakoko, Bong County – A group of Liberian returnees living in an unsafe structure in the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) property more than a year after leaving Ghana claim they have been abandoned by the government and are on their own.
One of the returnees, Shelly Y. Johnson, remembered coming to Suakoko on June 10, 2024, with a lot of optimism, that hope soon waned. According to Johnson, “what we found was an abandoned, dilapidated building with no electricity, no medical care, and barely any food. We were left alone even though we were told we would be relocated.”
According to her, Samaritan’s Purse recently gave them $245 one-time cash payout, but it wasn’t really useful. According to her, “some used it for food or basic supplies, but it didn’t last.” Johnson alleged that the Liberian government has only given $300 per family through the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) in September of last year. The group said that nothing has happened since then.
She remarked, “We’ve heard promises that more help is coming. They took our names. I even turned in my Ghanaian MVTC catering certificate, however, we never received a response.” Johnson and others alleged that there has been widespread corruption and negligence in the resettlement process.
Several of the returnees attribute the LRRRC’s worsening problems on both the organization’s previous and present leadership. Due to this alleged mismanagement of returnee monies, former Executive Director Patrick Worzie is presently the subject of a criminal investigation. This scandal has further increased mistrust among the people he was meant to help.
They claim that under the present acting management team, things have become worse. One returnee claimed, “We’re in a worse state now than we were under Worzie. The authorities no longer communicate with us. They never come to see how we’re doing. We’re simply abandoned here.”
Johnson didn’t hesitate when asked what they most needed. “We require a secure residence. Our kids must return to school. And we need actual assistance, not just words.”
Johnson stated that neither the rain nor the hunger are their greatest fears. She remarked, “It’s being forgotten. This kind of suffering is not why we returned from Ghana. This is our nation. However, all we can do each night is pray to live to the next day.”
Credit: Nukanah Kollie
