The Edward J. Roye Building is a wrecked skyscraper on Ashmun Street in the commercial district of Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. It was named the "E.J. Roye Memorial Building" after the country's fifth President Edward James Roye in 1964 by President William Tubman. The building was designed by Liberian architect Winston Richards to function as the True Whig Party headquarters."American Colonization Society Still Owns Land in Liberia?" [Monrovia] SunTimes 1985-07-03: 12. It was completed in 1965. It is one of the most prominent buildings in the city. In the building's earlier years, it included a grand auditorium,Lonely Planet Africa. [Melbourne]: Lonely Planet, 2013, B4. and before the 1980 coup d'état, it hosted government meetings such as sessions of the Legislature in 1975,Fourth annual message of Dr. William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of the Republic of Liberia, to the fourth session of the 47th Legislature, January 24, 1975, E.J. Roye Building, Monrovia, Liberia, HathiTrust. Accessed 2016-03-16. as well as non-governmental conventions such as the Liberian Federation of Trade Unions in 1977.Statement by Dr. William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of Liberia, at the Installation Programme of the Liberia Federation of Trade Unions, E.J. Roye Building, Monrovia, October 12, 1977, Google Books, n.d. Accessed 2016-03-16. It sits in the heart of the city's pre-coup commercial district, near locations such as the former offices of the American Colonization Society.
Considering that the Party had become defunct following the 1980 coup, the General Services Agency appropriated the building in 2011,Gov't to Rehabilitate E.J.Roye, Others...Needs US$13M for Monrovia's Drainage System , The Inquirer, 2011. Accessed 2016-03-16. and in view of the building's ruined state,Tweh, Jefferson D. "Gov't Takes Over E.J. Roye Building?", The Inquirer, 2013-11-12. Accessed via AllAfrica.com, 2016-03-16. the building was closed for construction in late 2013. The action provoked anger among the leaders of the rump TWP, who considered their party still to be the owners of the building and filed suit to have themselves declared the rightful owners and to have government officials enjoined from further possession of or construction at the property.Concerned TWP Members Take Gov't to Court , The Inquirer, 2011. Accessed 2016-03-16. In November 2023, the ECOWAS Court ruled in favor of the government, stating that it did not violate the property rights of True Whig Party as stipulated by Article 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
References
External links Crowds at the Roye Building from the Indiana University Liberian Collections