President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s apology on July 6, 2025, for Liberia’s civil war atrocities was meant to be a solemn turning point, a gesture of national reflection and healing. Standing before victims, survivors, and the diplomatic corps at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex, Boakai accepted moral responsibility on behalf of the Liberian state for its failure to protect its people during one of the most violent periods in the country’s history. “We are sorry,” he said, “the state could have done better.” He promised that this moment would not be empty, but part of a broader commitment to justice and reconciliation.
But while Boakai lit a symbolic candle for unity, another fire continued to rage in the background, corruption. And for many Liberians, this fire has done just as much to destroy lives and futures as the bullets and bombs of the war. In the minds of many citizens, the president’s apology was overshadowed by the lingering truth that corruption remains the single greatest threat to Liberia’s peace, justice, and development.
According to prominent anti-corruption advocate Anderson D. Miamen, the state cannot genuinely reconcile with victims while shielding the very networks of theft that created the conditions for conflict. “Reburial, apologies, and the other efforts are good,” Miamen wrote. “However, they won’t help to truly reconcile Liberia if we cannot address corruption and other root causes of the killings and violent situations that occurred.” His statement is not just a critique, it is a warning. Liberia’s past cannot be healed while its present remains broken.
Public trust in government continues to erode as millions of dollars disappear from the national budget each year. The General Auditing Commission and Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission have reported persistent financial irregularities across agencies. Inflated contracts, ghost employees, unretired travel advances, and unexplained bank withdrawals have become common features of Liberia’s public finance landscape. How can a country apologize for past suffering while simultaneously failing to stop the looting that perpetuates present suffering?
In 2024, an audit flagged over US$20 million in questionable expenditures. Yet few prosecutions have followed. Powerful individuals walk free while the majority of Liberians struggle to survive on less than two dollars a day. Hospitals lack supplies. Teachers go unpaid. Roads are impassable. Meanwhile, public officials build mansions, drive luxury cars, and fly their children abroad for schooling. It is this moral contradiction, apology without accountability, that threatens to hollow out the president’s reconciliation agenda.
The candlelight ceremony, while symbolic, does little to ease the economic pain caused by corruption. President Boakai described the moment as “a symbol of our collective journey from pain to purpose.” But the people of Liberia need more than purpose. They need protection. They need justice. They need their leaders to not only acknowledge wrongdoing but to take measurable steps toward correcting it. That means holding corrupt officials accountable, recovering stolen funds, and reinvesting them in healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
The presence of Dr. Antoine Rutayisire, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and a respected voice in peacebuilding, added gravity to the event. Rutayisire emphasized that true reconciliation requires honesty, justice, and transformation. He spoke as someone whose country confronted its past by prosecuting perpetrators and establishing firm systems of accountability. Rwanda learned that healing does not come from symbolism alone. Liberia must now decide whether it will follow that example or continue to treat reconciliation as a public relations exercise.
President Boakai has said all the right things. He has reaffirmed his commitment to implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations. He has pledged to memorialize victims and support survivors. But such promises must be backed by political will. The same energy used to draft apologies must be applied to reforming the justice system, empowering anti-corruption agencies, and demanding full transparency in government dealings.
If President Boakai wants to be remembered as a reconciler, he must first be a reformer. Because no apology, however sincere, can compensate for the damage done when millions of dollars meant for the poor are siphoned off by the powerful. And no unity candle, no matter how bright, can light the way forward while the fires of corruption continue to burn unchecked.
Liberia stands at a crossroads. The nation can walk the path of meaningful justice, or it can return to the cycle of empty words and impunity. Boakai’s apology was a beginning, not an end. Now, the real work must begin.
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