Guinea Border Partially Opened

After three days of closure, the Guinean Authorities have partially opened their border to allow stranded commuters to pass through.

With information reaching out from the Guinean authorities about the opening of the border, there was stampede on Monday evening. Travelers who were stranded on both sides were rushing to cross immediately with fears of encountering a similar situation as Guinea appears unstable with the overthrow of President Alpha Condè.

The border was first closed on Saturday, September 4, 2021 when the St. John River overflowed its' bank and covered the metal bridge over which vehicles and people can cross to either country.  The river covered the main Guinean checkpoint that security officers there were forced to move far in.  Houses built near the bank of the river in Liberia were covered by water and some broke down.

While the stranded travelers were wondering how waters of the river can dwindle to cross, there was a coup on Sunday that led to the arrest and detention of President Alpha Condè thereby leading the country to enforce the closure of all borders, including air, sea and land respectively.

The abrupt closure brings uncertainty and confusion in the minds of the travelers and those who have their businesses in Guinea. The fragile political situation in neighboring Guinea is highly likely to create an economic vacuum for Liberia that heavily depends on agriculture products from there.

On Monday, the Liberia National Security beef up security at the border by deploying a well-armed Police Support Unit to back up the armed LIS Border Patrol unit.

Ganta border is a very busy crossing point that thousands of people cross in and out there daily.  However, the bordering point is such that it does not have a fence to restrict travelers use a single route.  This condition, a security said, can easily cause some with bad intention to bypass the checkpoint to enter into Liberia to cause destruction.

"Dozens of cars and cargo trucks entered this border daily, what happens when criminal intrude take away those valuable," the security officer said. "This border needs to be demarcated and fence to avoid bypassing and breaking through the security corridor,' said another officer.