NATIONAL NEWS
MONROVIA — Former Minister of Finance, Samuel D. Tweah, has criticized the Boakai administration’s attempt to correct controversial road construction figures contained in President Joseph N. Boakai’s 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA), arguing that the so-called correction still contains serious inaccuracies and continues to mislead the public.
In a detailed public statement, Tweah welcomed the government’s admission that an error was made in the President’s road pavement ratio but said the revised explanation “retains the same language and the same error,” implying that the Rescue Government constructed about 1,430 kilometers of paved roads in two years — a claim he described as “an impossibility.”
By: Trokon Wrepue – trokon1992seokin@gmail.com
“The English the President read implies the Rescue Government built about 1,430 kilometers of roads,” Tweah said. “That simply cannot be true, and the press release issued to correct the misinformation still carries the same implication.”
Despite the lingering inaccuracies, Tweah said he acknowledged the administration’s willingness to admit error, calling it a positive step toward improving public discourse.
“I don’t need credit for flagging the error,” he said. “What Liberia needs is honesty. Honesty in public discourse is required if this country is to move forward.”
Pressure to Match CDC Numbers
Tweah attributed the misstatement in the SONA to what he described as growing pressure on the Unity Party-led Rescue Government to match governance performance indicators achieved under the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) administration of former President George Manneh Weah.
According to him, the road error mirrors other disputed claims by the Boakai administration, including the assertion that it has created 70,000 jobs, which he dismissed as false.
“The numbers are clear,” Tweah said. “The Rescue Government is struggling to match the governance numbers and economic milieu engendered by the CDC.”
Inflation and Cost of Living
Citing data from the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), Tweah said inflation has increased since the CDC left office.
He noted that Liberia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose from 696.82 in January 2024 to 791.1 by December 2025, representing a 13.5 percent increase in prices.
“This means if something cost US$100 under the CDC, it now costs about US$113.40,” he said.
Year-on-year inflation between December 2024 and December 2025 stands at 4 percent, according to officially reported figures.
Economic Growth and Reserves
Using International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, Tweah argued that the CDC handed the Rescue Government a strong economic base.
He said economic growth stood at 4.7 percent in 2023, compared to 2.5 percent in 2017 when the CDC took power, adding that achieving a 5 percent growth rate today should not be considered exceptional since similar growth was achieved under the CDC in 2021.
On Liberia’s Net International Reserves, Tweah said the CDC inherited US$110 million in 2017 and handed over US$220 million by December 2023, doubling the reserve position. By December 2025, reserves reportedly stood at US$280 million.
“This is the strongest evidence that the CDC did not destroy the Liberian economy,” he said.
Electricity and Road Construction
Tweah also compared performance in electricity connections, stating that between 2018 and 2023, the CDC connected 240,000 households, averaging 40,000 connections per year, benefiting more than 1.4 million Liberians.
By contrast, he said the Boakai administration has connected about 63,000 households in two years, averaging 31,500 per year, below the CDC’s annual rate.
On road construction, Tweah said Liberia had 745 kilometers of paved roads before 2018, built over 12 years at an average of 62 kilometers per year. Under the CDC, he said 454 kilometers were paved between 2018 and 2023, increasing the annual average to 75 kilometers per year.
He argued that due to conflicting data from the 2026 SONA, it remains unclear how many kilometers of roads the Boakai administration has actually paved, but even under the most generous scenarios, its performance still falls below the CDC average.
Call for Honest Debate
Tweah concluded that efforts by the Rescue Mission to discredit CDC achievements are “misguided and baseless,” arguing that much of the current government’s performance remains “in the shadow of the CDC.”
He urged Liberia’s political debate to shift away from roads and electricity toward deeper structural challenges such as job creation, private sector credit, and human capital development.
“We have institutionalized roads and electricity,” Tweah said. “But we have not institutionalized credit to the private sector or investment in human capital. That is where the real debate should be.”
“Let’s keep the debate honest.”
