E-Mansion 40% Complete After Nearly 19 years

Nearly 19 years after fire gutted the Executive Mansion, Liberia’s iconic seat of presidential power remains largely in ruins, with renovation progress estimated at just 40 percent a revelation that has reignited public outrage and legislative concern over years of delay and mismanagement.

Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Designate, Samuel Stevquoah, made the startling disclosure while appearing before the Senate Committee on Executive this week, admitting that only a fraction of the massive restoration project has been completed despite millions of dollars already spent.

“The Executive Mansion is not fully renovated,” Stevquoah told lawmakers, adding that experts have placed the overall progress “at about 40 percent.”

He said the once-grand building remains riddled with structural decay, leaking roofs, and exposed electrical wiring.

According to Stevquoah, while the fourth floor where the Office of the President is located is about 70 percent complete, it still contains several boarded-up rooms and unfinished sections.

“There are areas with exposed electrical wiring, which make the environment unsafe for occupation,” he revealed.

He painted an even bleaker picture of the third floor, which houses the Deputy Minister for Administration and the Office of the First Lady, saying renovation there has reached “only about 35 percent.” The remaining floors, he lamented, “are in complete ruin.”

“The situation is so bad that during important programs held in the Mansion’s parlor, water seeps from the roof while events are ongoing,” the Minister of State Designate disclosed, underscoring the dire conditions within the country’s most symbolic government building.

Stevquoah said President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has expressed a strong desire to finally relocate to the Mansion, but the current state of the facility makes that impossible.

“Given the constant back-and-forth over its readiness, it would not be practical to do so now,” he explained.

“As it stands, President Boakai still resides in the same house he built years ago when he was with the Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC),” he added, revealing a situation many Liberians see as an embarrassing reflection of official neglect.

The Executive Mansion damaged by fire in July 2006 during the early months of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s administration has undergone several stalled renovation attempts across successive governments. Yet, nearly two decades later, the project remains incomplete.

Senate Committee Chairperson on Executive, Senator James Biney, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the continued delays, warning that history must not repeat itself.

“The same promise former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made and didn’t fulfill, and the same situation under President Weah, must not be repeated,” Biney cautioned.

He called on the Ministry of State to begin factoring into the national budget the full amount required to complete the project once and for all.

“It is time to end this cycle of broken promises and ensure the Executive Mansion is finally restored,” he insisted.

The partial renovation, plagued by funding gaps, contractor disputes, and shifting project management, has long been a sore point in Liberia’s post-war governance narrative.

Many Liberians have viewed the unfinished Mansion as a national embarrassment and a symbol of inefficiency.

Public sentiment is also fueled by questions over transparency in previous contracts awarded for the project.

Despite repeated budgetary allocations, there has been little visible progress to justify the expenditures.

Analysts say completing the renovation would not only restore national pride but also cut costs associated with maintaining the President’s current residence and leasing external venues for official functions.

As the Senate demands answers and the Executive promises renewed focus, all eyes are now on the 2026 national budget which could determine whether Liberia’s long-delayed dream of seeing its President return to the Executive Mansion finally becomes a reality.