14/09/2026
PUL Calls for Media Sustainability Law, Challenges Boakai on Media Legacy
By: Zarwolo Selleh, Reporter, Radio Nimba
Contact: 0880454787/0770261887
Email: [email protected]
The President of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), Julius Kanubah, has challenged President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s administration to establish a lasting legacy for Liberia’s media sector.
Speaking at the Second Annual Presidential Media Dinner held on September 12, 2026, at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, Mr. Kanubah called for the formulation and enactment of a Liberia Media Governance and Sustainability Act.
He said the proposed legislation would provide a transparent national framework for supporting independent, ethical, and professional journalism in Liberia.
Mr. Kanubah noted that although the country has made progress in media development through the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act, the decriminalization of certain press offenses under the Kamara Abdullai Kamara Act, and the expansion of community radio, significant challenges remain.
He cited inadequate electricity, limited equipment, declining advertising revenues, high operational costs, and insufficient professional training as major constraints facing community radio stations and other media institutions.
According to the PUL President, concerns raised during the first Presidential Media Dinner in April 2025—including the need to reform the Liberia Broadcasting and Cultural Center (ELBC) into an impartial public-service broadcaster—have yet to receive significant attention.
Mr. Kanubah therefore urged the Boakai administration to take concrete steps toward ELBC reform, improving journalists’ working conditions, supporting community radio, and developing a national framework for media sustainability.
He also called on President Boakai to support the construction of the PUL Headquarters, noting that land for the project was acquired as far back as 1997.
Reflecting on previous administrations, Kanubah said former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government contributed US$100,000 toward the proposed PUL headquarters, while former President George Weah’s administration enacted the Kamara Abdullai Kamara Act and provided a headquarters for the Female Journalists Association of Liberia.
However, he acknowledged that the PUL had experienced serious accountability challenges surrounding the earlier US$100,000 contribution, describing the situation as a “blessing that unfortunately turned into a curse” for the Union.
Despite the controversy, Mr. Kanubah said the PUL remains committed to transparency and completing the headquarters project.
He ended by posing a direct question to President Boakai:
“What will be the media legacy of the Joseph Nyuma Boakai administration?”
Kanubah said the Presidential Media Dinner should go beyond wining and dining and instead become a defining moment for concrete government intervention in strengthening Liberia’s media sector and constructing the PUL’s national headquarters.
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