NATIONAL NEWS
MONROVIA – Former Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. has entered the growing debate over Liberia’s wage levels and cost of living, arguing that the country’s US$150 monthly minimum wage gives low-income workers a stronger position than their counterparts in several West African countries.
By: Trokon S. Wrepue – trokon1992seokin@gmail.com
In a statement posted on Facebook, Tweah said a comparison of basic living costs and minimum wages in Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria shows that the Liberian minimum-wage worker retains more purchasing power after paying for essential needs. His comparison covers basic food, one-room rent, electricity, telecommunications and transportation.
Tweah’s intervention comes amid renewed public debate over the Government of Liberia’s recent celebration of crossing the US$1 billion domestic revenue mark, which he described as “foolhardy” and argued had generated a debate that should instead focus on the impact of the national budget on ordinary Liberians.
According to Tweah, the controversy surrounding the revenue milestone has highlighted the need for Liberia to rethink how public resources are allocated. He called for a redesign of the national budget ahead of 2029 to ensure that government spending produces greater economic and social impact.
Tweah Credits Sirleaf, Weah for Minimum Wage Policy
Tweah also defended the US$150 minimum wage and credited former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with signing Liberia’s Decent Work Act in 2015, while crediting former President George Manneh Weah with implementing the wage policy during his administration.
The International Labour Organization has confirmed that Sirleaf signed Liberia’s Decent Work Act into law in June 2015, describing it as a landmark labor law that formally incorporated the principles of decent work.
However, the statutory minimum wage structure in the Decent Work Act is more specific than a blanket US$150 monthly minimum. The law establishes minimum daily wages of US$5.50 for formal-sector workers and US$3.50 for domestic and casual workers, with provisions allowing workers to negotiate higher wages.
The US$150 figure has subsequently become a major benchmark in Liberia’s public-sector wage debate.
During the Weah administration, the government acknowledged that thousands of public workers were still earning below the US$150 threshold. In his 2023 Annual Message, Weah said about 15,000 government workers remained below the minimum wage at the time, while reporting that salary adjustments had already benefited more than 28,000 government employees.
The current government has taken a different position on the issue. Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan said in August 2025 that no employee on the central government payroll earned less than US$150 in gross salary, explaining that deductions could reduce workers’ take-home pay below that amount.
Tweah challenges Liberia’s “high-cost” Reputation
A central part of Tweah’s argument is his rejection of the widely held view that Liberia is exceptionally expensive compared with other West African countries.
He said he had developed a city-based comparison of essential consumer costs for minimum-wage workers in the five countries, using a basket covering food, accommodation, electricity, telecommunications and transportation.
Tweah said the comparison showed that the Liberian minimum-wage earner remained in a positive position after accounting for those basic expenses, while minimum-wage workers in the other four countries recorded negative balances.
He further cited the World Bank’s 2021 International Comparison Program (ICP) and its Price Level Index, which measures the relationship between purchasing power parity and market exchange rates.
The World Bank explains that the index is designed to compare price levels across economies.
According to Tweah’s interpretation of the 2021 data, Liberia’s overall price level was below those of Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, while being slightly above Ghana.
His argument therefore challenges claims that Liberia’s relatively high minimum wage is simply compensation for an unusually high cost of living.
“Some have implied that Liberia’s higher minimum wage is merely ‘compensatory’ for ‘higher prices,’” Tweah wrote, describing that argument as unsupported by the data he presented.
Calls for Remaining Public Workers to Reach $150
Tweah also called on President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to ensure that all government workers receive at least the US$150 benchmark, arguing that the previous administration had brought approximately 95 percent of government workers to that level.
He urged the Boakai administration to address what he described as the remaining five percent.
At the same time, Tweah called for broader changes to government spending, arguing that increasing revenue alone should not be the central measure of economic progress.
He said the national debate should shift toward whether government expenditure is translating into jobs, infrastructure, public services and improved living conditions for Liberians.
Tweah Links Wage Debate to Broader Political Accountability
While defending the wage policy, Tweah also maintained his criticism of the current administration, calling for continued scrutiny of what he described as “selective justice and rule of law violations.”
He argued that Liberia can simultaneously demand accountability from the RESCUE Government while debating how the national budget can deliver greater economic benefits.
Tweah’s intervention comes as Liberia continues to grapple with the competing challenges of raising domestic revenue, expanding public-sector compensation, controlling the cost of living and ensuring that government spending produces measurable benefits for citizens.
The World Bank has previously stressed the importance of improving expenditure efficiency and creating fiscal space for public investment in Liberia, while noting the country’s efforts to strengthen domestic revenue mobilization.
Tweah’s latest argument places the minimum-wage debate within that larger question: whether Liberia’s growing public revenues are being converted into meaningful improvements in the purchasing power and living standards of ordinary workers.
