Two overpass bridges going up along Tubman Boulevard in Congo Town, Liberia, have become the unlikely center of a political tug-of-war. The construction, funded by China, has both the Congress for Democratic Change and the Unity Party rushing to plant their flags on the project before it is even finished.
Supporters of former President George Manneh Weah's CDC say the groundwork for the bridges belongs to his administration. Meanwhile, backers of current President Joseph Nyuma Boakai's ruling Unity Party are just as insistent that the credit sits with their man in office. Both camps are loud, and neither is backing down.
Infrastructure wins have always been political gold in West Africa, and Congo Town's overpasses are proving no different. The real question now is whether either party will let the finished bridges speak for themselves, or whether the arguing will outlast the construction.
Originally published by AllAfrica · mail@thenewdawnliberia.com (New Dawn).