By Shallon S. Gonlor
SANNIQUELLIE, Nimba County – Hundreds of market women from the Sanniquellie Public Market staged a demonstration on a disputed eight-acre plot on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, publicly accusing Nimba County Superintendent Kou Meapeh Gono of orchestrating a forceful land grab of property they purchased with their own savings.
The women, who gathered on the land in Gonoloh Village just minutes from Sanniquellie City’s main street, voiced their frustrations and called on national and local leaders to intervene. Their protest highlights a growing tension between the community and the superintendent, who is currently abroad and unavailable for comment.
The disputed land carries a history of unfulfilled promises; former President George Weah broke ground there for a new market in 2021, but the project never materialized. Now, the women say they are fighting to protect their investment from being taken by their own local government.
“We bought this land with our own sweat, with hard-earned money from selling fish, peppers, and bitter ball,” said market woman Roseline Suah. “We collected money from each marketeer. We have documents for this land.”
Their primary grievance is against Superintendent Gono, whom they allege is seizing the land for her personal use. The women are resisting her proposal to relocate them to a site in Sehyikimpa Town, which they argue is too distant and insufficient for their needs.
“We suffer for this land,” the women chanted, pleading for Superintendent Gono to release their property.
The leadership of the market associations provided detailed accounts of the confrontation. Rebecca Teage, Superintendent of the Sanniquellie Public Market, stated that the women were left feeling “helpless, frustrated, and betrayed” by the superintendent’s actions.
“Every marketeer contributed to buy this land without government support, and we believed it was secured for our benefit,” Teage explained. “We are not looking for trouble; we just want our land back.”
Adding a layer of official testimony, Madam Winifred Guah, General Superintendent of the Nimba County branch of the Liberia Marketing Association, provided a specific allegation. She recounted a meeting where Supt. Gono allegedly thanked her for a land donation that was never made.
“I was shocked when she said, ‘Madam Superintendent, I just want to thank you for the land that you have given to me in Gonoloh Village,'” Guah stated. When challenged, Guah claimed Gono offered a land swap—exchanging the women’s eight acres for five acres in Sehyikimpa—an offer the market women found unacceptable.
Guah further alleged that the superintendent politicized the dispute and threatened her job due to her political affiliation. The land, while surveyed in the Liberia Marketing Association’s name, has not yet been probated, complicating the legal standing of the claim.
In response to the allegations, the market women are appealing directly to Nimba County’s highest-ranking officials, including Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, and local lawmakers Senators Samuel Kogar, Nya Twayen, and Representative Nyahn Flomo to persuade Superintendent Gono to cease her efforts.
Superintendent Kou Meapeh Gono could not be reached for comment, as she is currently leading a seven-member county delegation at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. She is expected to address the allegations upon her return to Liberia.
