Mary Broh

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Mary Tanyonoh Broh (born 1951) is a Liberian public figure who served as Acting Mayor of Monrovia in 2009 and has held several government roles since. She began in 2006 as Special Projects Coordinator for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, then led the Passport Bureau in 2007 to help cut corruption, and in 2008 became Deputy Director of the National Port Authority. In February 2009 she was chosen to lead the Monrovia City Corporation (acting mayor) to improve the capital’s administration, though she was not confirmed by the Liberian Senate.

Broh pushed for a cleaner city and better public health. In October 2009 she updated City Ordinance No. 1 to tackle waste, sanitation, and unregulated street vendors, as well as squatting and the influx of internally displaced people after Liberia’s civil wars. Her efforts drew both praise and criticism. She worked with international partners like the World Bank and the Gates Foundation, and became known for tough, visible campaigns that some called heavy-handed. By 2010 she led campaigns to clean beaches, install portable toilets, and demolish unsafe buildings, though critics said her methods harmed the poor.

Controversy followed her as she clashed with lawmakers and journalists. In 2013 she resigned after an incident involving Grace Kpaan, Montserrado County Superintendent, but President Sirleaf later appointed her to head the Omega Village Project and, in July 2013, she was again named to a mayoral post, though legislative confirmation had been contentious.

Beyond Monrovia, Broh later held senior roles including Director-General of the General Services Agency. In 2025 she led an anti-power-theft task force for the Liberia Electricity Corporation. In June 2025 she was named in a grand jury indictment over the alleged misappropriation of Saudi-donated rice intended for disaster-affected communities, with prosecutors claiming thousands of bags were diverted. Broh denies wrongdoing, calling the charges politically motivated, and the case was ongoing as of mid-2025.