13/10/2025
Press Statement for immediate release
Supreme Motorcycle Transport Union of Liberia condemned the act of violence leading to the death of an alleged bike thief, but cautioned people involved with stealing using bikes, thereby tarnishing our high earned reputation.
Making the public to hastily generalised that all motorcyclists are criminals, knowing fully well that we are legally doing our business to support ourselves and family. Even the police or legal system of our country is not working in the interest of all citizens, most especially we the ordinary people.
Fellow Motorcyclists, Tricyclists, the press, one and all.
Let me first condemn the acts of violence displayed by few motorcyclists and community dwellers against an alleged bike thief, and call on the police for a speedy and impartial investigation.
Liberians, while it’s that Mr. Coleman and the police authorities have proven beyond all reasonable doubt that they are unprofessional given their track record, ranging from brutality against innocent Motorcyclists and civilian, we must never allow our country Liberia to be invaded by lawlessness and corruption. Let’s do our best to all be peaceful and law abiding, please!!!!
Stigmatisation of Cyclists by the public:
To my Motorcyclists, I can understand how you feel. I know what its means to be in gathering of many people, and most of them generally speaking negative things about you, but that doesn’t mean that you should take the laws into your hands.
You don’t trust the police, simply because they are the ones brutalising you everyday and everywhere in the name of “No~Go~Zone” restriction. Yet we should do everything to follow the law, please Comrades.
To the police:
Mr. Coleman, you need to readjust your leadership style, the Gregory you was during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf era is completely different from what Liberian people witnessing. Instead of you working for we the ordinary Liberian citizens, you are working against us. I give you a typical examples:
You have instructed your police officers to hurt Motorcyclists using Barton and different types of weapons against our Motorcyclists in the name of “No-Go-Zone” restriction.
2. I saw two people fighting, and one of them (Bro. Cyrus) accused his brother of stealing money and so he was going to kill his brother.
I honestly beg him, in an attempt to make peace, and so I end up advising him to call the police. Without delay Cyrus responded to me by saying: Going to police station for what?
I replied to him by saying, to seek justice.
Cyrus replied to me by saying: I am not going to waste my time going to police, because if I go there and I don’t have money, they will not follow me. And even if they follow me, they will not be fair simply because I don’t have any money or connections.
The moral of this story:
Liberians in general don’t trust the police and the legal system, which is very dangerous for our country Liberia.
To the alleged Motorcycle criminals:
Let me say this to you,
“You can’t jump over sitting down, to laying down”. If you ever attempt doing it, you will hurt yourself.
That’s part of the reasons you don’t want to hustle like us, because you just want take pay without working. Leading you to stealing from innocent people in the streets, using Motorbike.
You are dangerously stupid, you are the reason people are stigmatising us, thereby calling us criminals. This is totally unacceptable, please find something to do.
We Motorcyclists have career, we are educated but this government has failed to provide the enabling environment or jobs for us. Leading us to riding bikes, please stop.
Moral of this parable:
Some of us you find riding bikes are not happy, we too are struggling or suffering.
We want to be rich, and even richer than everyone else in Liberia, but life is a process.
We want our children go to the best schools, and enjoy everything life offers. But we must follow the process of life, and so please stop killing innocent Motorcyclists for their bikes and jacking people begs and properties in the streets. Stop!!!!!!
In closing, we are calling on the police to investigate this matter and bring the perpetrators to book, protect our Cyclists and asking the government of Liberia to allow our Cyclists to ride on the roads, because we have registered our bikes fully and cannot be punished for other people actions. You can’t collect our money and deny us access to the roads, this is totally unacceptable.
Our kids are out of school because of this restrictions, this is another form of discrimination and violence against our Motorcyclists.
If Mr. Boakai was going to bring the many companies he promised during the 2023 presidential election campaign, and provide better jobs for our Motorcyclists, we were never going to ride bikes. But Mr. Boakai has failed to provide better jobs, that’s the reason we are riding bikes.
The suppression from this government against we the Motorcyclists and Kekeh riders are too much, enough is enough.
Thank you so much, and may God bless and protect all Motorcyclists and Tricyclists across Liberia.
Signed:
Trokon Grayginho Gray aka Yellow Machine,
National President.
Supreme Motorcycle Transport Union of Liberia / SUMTUL Inc.
0775179760 / 0886016289
