Two years after rodents forced President Muhhammadu Buhari to work from home, Liberian President George Weah has suffered a similar fate and this time around the Liberian first citizen has been forced out of his office by snakes.
Buhari had to vacate his As Rock office for about 81 days for fumigation.
Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, while confirming the development said the rodents damaged furniture and air conditioning fittings in the office forcing the President to work from home.
Similarly, Weah, the 1995 FIFA world player of the year and three-time African footballer of the year is currently working from home after two snakes were found in the building where his office is located.
The black snakes were seen this week briefly emerging from a hole in a wall of the reception area of the building in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital.
Deputy press secretary Smith Toby said the President who was one of the dignitaries at this year’s Africa footballer of the year award held in Senegal with Mohammed Salah emerging winner, was advised to stay away until the Foreign Affairs building is properly fumigated.
The president’s office has been located in Ministry of Foreign Affairs since fire gutted the presidential mansion in 2006.
The deputy press secretary said his office has opened an inquiry on the matter and a fumigation process has begun to take care of ‘crawling and creeping things.’
It is less than a month since the building was last closed for fumigation between March 29 and April 1.
“The snakes were never killed. There was a little hole somewhere; they made their way back,” Mr Toby said.
The Executive Protection Service was unable to kill the snakes as they vanished back through the same passage from which they first appeared, a source told FrontPageAfrica.
Toby added: “That building has been there for years now, and because of the drainage system, the possibility of having things like snakes crawling in that building was high.
Liberia is home to poisonous snakes – including black mambas and cobras and officials are not taking chances in ensuring that the 51 year old President and Ballon d’Or winner is not harmed in anyway.
Weah, who played for AC Milan, PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City in the course of his soccer career, was sworn in as Liberian president in January 2018.
The President and his immediate staff are hopefully expected to return to office on Monday.
President Weah is however, not the only one to have been forced to vacate his office temporarily because of “unwanted visitors”.
