Africa-Press – Liberia. Fellow Liberians,
Liberia is a gift from God. The beauty of our land is matched only by the strength and beauty of our people. Yet today we must confront an uncomfortable truth: after 178 years, our nation is still not working for the majority of its citizens. And the evidence is all around us – look outside your window, walk the streets, visit our schools, or seek treatment in our hospitals – The truth is there for all to see.
For a country as rich as ours, we should not have people as poor as ours.
But this happens when your nation’s budget process rewards consumption over production, recurrent spending over investment, and political comfort over national development.
This must change.
If this government is serious about rebuilding Liberia, then the budget must reflect that seriousness. It must prioritize the sectors that build human capital: education, healthcare, agriculture, and security. These are the pillars on which every successful nation stands.
Imagine a Liberia where every child can read, where every hospital heals, where every farm feeds our people, and where every community lives in safety from criminals. That is the Liberia we must begin to build today and build together. And it is possible. Let us abandon the mindset that Liberia will never change. It can, and it will change.
If other nations can do it, then so can we.
Rwanda, despite a far more devastating civil war than ours, has transformed and is now a model of stability and efficiency. Ghana, a nation once decades behind us, is now decades ahead of us.
But, with budgets that prioritize government over people, we will continue to remain way behind the countries that are way behind.
No country can grow when its youth are unskilled, unsupported, or unemployed.
Consider the numbers: the combined allocations for Bong Technical College, Grand Gedeh Community College, Kakata Teacher Training Institute, Bassa Community College, Grand Kru Community College, Pleebo Technical College, Nimba Community College, Sinoe Community College, River Gee Technical College, Zorzor Teacher Training, and Lofa Community College amount to less than 10 million dollars – for tens of thousands of students across Liberia.
Meanwhile, 103 lawmakers and their staff receive over 50 million dollars in salaries and benefits.
This must change.
We spend 200,000 dollars on Maryland Vocational Training Institute, and 500,000 dollars on scratch cards for officials.
This must change, if Liberia is to change for the better.
A nation cannot survive when its citizens are sick, untreated, and without access to basic medical services. And the painful truth is this: in Liberia, the best medical advice too often becomes, “Buy a plane ticket to a foreign country.” But how many Liberians can afford that?
Look at the numbers. Our largest hospital, JFK, serving millions of people, was allocated 9 million dollars.
Meanwhile, the six leading political offices – the Office of the President, Vice President, Pro Tempore, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Chief Justice – were allocated over 11 million dollars.
Think about that: more money spent on six offices than on our most important medical facility.
How does that serve the poor people of Liberia?
This must change.
Now consider agriculture – a sector that, if prioritized, could transform our nation, address rural poverty, strengthen national security, and finally give Liberia food sovereignty. Yet year after year, we rely on rice grown in India to feed our people. The entire agriculture budget is barely 13 million dollars, while we import over 200 million dollars’ worth of rice every year – giving our wealth and our food security to foreigners.
We produce little to nothing in counties like Lofa, Bong, Margibi, Nimba, and Grand Gedeh – areas that should be Liberia’s agricultural engines. And I promise you this: foreign governments and international partners who support us, will never take us seriously if we continue asking them to do for us what we refuse to do for ourselves.
This must change.
And in security: how can we expect true safety when the men and women sworn to protect us are underpaid, undertrained, and under-supported? Many earn around 200 dollars a month, while watching ministers and lawmakers drive 45,000-dollar vehicles. Is this fair? How can they protect our families while struggling to feed their families?
No nation has ever developed by investing in bureaucracy over people. Yet that is what this budget – like so many before – is doing. Since 2006, 90% of total spending has gone to recurrent expenditure – with only about 10% going to capital. In other words, for every one dollar spent on building roads, hospitals and schools – we spend nine dollars on salaries, travel, fuels slips, entertainment and other operational costs. If we continue spending more on government perks than on training teachers and nurses, and supporting farmers, and security officers, Liberia will never truly succeed. And this budget, as currently constituted, will not allow Liberia to succeed.
The pain the average Liberian feels, and the suffering they witness daily…is very real.
That is why, another crucial detail in this budget – is being overlooked by far too many people – the Government is increasing the Goods and Services Tax from 12 percent to 13 percent. A higher tax rate means higher prices on almost every imported good, and therefore more hardship for ordinary people. When an importer pays the new 13 percent rate at the Freeport, that cost will 100 percent be passed on to the average Liberia.
Take, for example, a market woman in Red Light. She depends on imported rice, oil, and seasoning cubes to make her daily bread. If each of those items increases because of the higher tax rate, she has only two choices: raise her prices and risk losing customers who are already struggling, or keep her prices the same and earn less profit, making it even harder for her to support her family. Either she loses, or her struggling Liberian customer loses, a troubling reality at a time when families are already fighting to keep up with food prices, school fees, rent, health care, and transportation.
The cost of living is rising, but the people’s income is standing still. So yes, the budget may have increased, but that is because the tax on the common citizen, has also increased. Let me remind you, that a national budget is meant to improve the lives of ordinary citizens. It should reduce pressure on households, not add to it.
This cannot continue.
I speak now directly to His Excellency, President Boakai:
I do not need to work in your government to pray for or wish you well, because your success is Liberia’s success. But I plead with you and your team – because this budget, is not the transformation that will rescue Liberia.
We must build a New Liberia – a Liberia where the national budget reflects national priorities. A Liberia where the biggest investments are not in government offices, but in human capital and potential. A Liberia where schools are equipped, hospitals are functional, farms are productive, and communities are safe.
A Liberia where building a strong private sector becomes a national priority – so that a government job is not the only option for college graduates. A Liberia where public officials do not live better than the people they serve. A Liberia where lawmakers do not grow wealthy on the backs of the Liberian people.
We need a budget that does not allocate tens of millions of dollars to lawmakers under the label of “legislative projects.” Because if lawmakers are making the laws, carrying out oversight, and executing development projects, then what exactly is the role of the Executive? What becomes of local government?
This is not their job, and it is not development. It is politics disguised as progress. And in reality, it undermines our superintendents, our county administrations, and the entire system of local governance that was established to deliver real, sustainable development to our people.
This appeal is a fight for the soul of Liberia – our shared destiny.
Therefore, the choice before us is clear:
Continue the same budgetary patterns that recycle poverty and inequality…
Or insist on a transformational system that will build a New Liberia.
We can rise. We can rebuild. We can transform, but only if we take action.
Because if we do not act now, who will?
If we do not demand accountability today, then when?
If we do not fix a budget that, by any honest reading, favors government officials over the citizens, then we will remain trapped in failure.
I repeat: Liberia is too rich for Liberians to be this poor.
That must end. Liberia deserves better. Our children deserve better. Our future demands better.
And if we stand together, committed, disciplined, and courageous, Liberia’s best days will not be behind us; they will be ahead of us.
God bless our land and save our state.
About the Author
Dr. Clarence K. Moniba is a former presidential candidate and previously served as Minister of State without Portfolio in the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration.
Source: FrontPageAfrica
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