WHEN JOSEPH BOAKAI campaigned for the presidency in 2023, his message was unmistakable that Liberia needed not just a change in leadership, but a fundamental transformation in how government serves its people.
HIS RESCUE MISSION mantra was rooted in promises of discipline, accountability, and a clean break from the excesses of the past, particularly the extravagance and fiscal recklessness of the George Weah administration.
BOAKAI PROMISED TO lead with humility and integrity, to restore decency to governance, and to ensure that public resources would be used for public good — not for political tourism.
TODAY, that promise is hanging by a thread.
THE NEWS THAT President Boakai has led a massive government delegation of more than 23 individuals — with the number possibly ballooning to 40 — to the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Japan is not just disappointing. It is shameful. It is hypocritical. And it is a slap in the face to every Liberian who trusted him to lead differently.
EVEN WORSE IS the response from Information Minister Jerolinmeh Piah, who, rather than acknowledging the troubling contradiction, chose to defend the indefensible. His dismissive remarks only deepen the public’s sense of betrayal.
THIS IS THE same Jerolinmeh Piah who, not long ago as a member of the opposition Unity Party, joined others in ridiculing former President George Weah for globe-trotting with bloated delegations at taxpayers’ expense.
BACK THEN, PIAH called such trips wasteful, unnecessary, and an insult to the Liberian people. Today, he defends the very same behavior as if nothing has changed — as if the Liberian people have suddenly forgotten.
PRESIDENT BOAKAI’S TRIP to Japan, which could cost the nation upwards of US$192,640 in daily subsistence allowances, per diems, and accommodations (excluding airfare), is nothing short of fiscal recklessness. At an estimated US$688 per day per delegate, the cost of the trip, even at the minimum confirmed number of 23 delegates, reaches over US$110,000.
SHOULD THE FULL 40-person delegation materialize, the cost could well exceed US$200,000. That’s money that could be spent paying the months-long salary arrears owed to professors at the University of Liberia, or equipping public hospitals and clinics that lack basic medical supplies. That money could be used to repair broken schools, to fund drug rehabilitation programs, or to support Liberia’s overstretched police force.
INSTEAD, IT IS being used to fund a trip to a trade fair — a trip that blatantly violates the very Revised Travel Ordinance Law of 2025 that the Boakai administration enacted just eight months ago. The law is crystal clear. Rule number three of the ordinance limits total government-funded representation at any event outside Liberia to five people. Rule number four, which pertains to high-level summits such as the UN General Assembly or China-Africa Summits, increases that limit to seven. Yet, for a trade-oriented conference like TICAD — which clearly falls under this regulation — President Boakai is traveling with a team more than 300 percent over the legal limit.
WHAT MAKES THIS more damning is the fact that this violation is not incidental — it is intentional and calculated. The president departed four days ahead of the summit’s official commencement, creating more unnecessary expenses.
THE PRESENCE OF multiple ministries, agencies, and non-essential figures on the trip further undermines any claim that this is a “development mission.” It is a political excursion masquerading as diplomacy. It is exactly what President Boakai once condemned Weah for doing — and rightly so.
MINISTER PIAH’S ATTEMPT to deflect criticism by comparing this trip to those of other governments globally only underscores the administration’s failure to grasp the gravity of public trust.
LIBERIA IS NOT Japan. Liberia is not Germany. Liberia is a fragile, aid-dependent nation with a crumbling economy and worsening poverty. Teachers earn less than US$150 a month. Nurses go unpaid for months. Youth unemployment and drug abuse have reached crisis levels. Inflation is eating away at the buying power of ordinary citizens. What “progress” is being made when millions are struggling to survive?
MOREOVER, PIAH’S RHETORIC — that the “variables are not the same” or that “trade relations are important” — cannot mask the truth. Participation in international summits must be strategic, lean, and purposeful. They must be guided by national interest, not political favoritism. And above all, they must comply with the laws of the land. That is what distinguishes responsible governance from political theater.
PIAH’S CLAIM THAT Liberia stands to benefit from the Osaka Expo — and the decision to appoint former Ambassador Julie Endee as Commissioner General — raises even more questions. What is the cost of her role? What measurable outcomes are expected from Liberia’s participation? And why must nearly four dozen government officials be physically present to realize these goals? If Liberia’s development hinges on attending every expo with a small army of bureaucrats, then we are doomed to remain poor.
THE MOST PAINFUL irony in all of this is that this bloated trip, coming under the guise of a “Rescue Mission,” has exposed how quickly political morality can dissolve in the face of power. President Boakai’s administration is beginning to resemble the very government it vowed to reform — not only in action, but now also in attitude.
BUT it is not too late.
PRESIDENT BOAKAI STILL has the opportunity to reclaim the moral high ground. He must comply with his own travel ordinance, and publicly recommit to the principles that got him elected. He must instruct his ministers and spokespersons to speak honestly, not arrogantly. Liberians are not fools. They are watching, they are listening, and they are taking notes.
IF THE RESCUE Mission is to mean anything — anything at all — it must begin with the president himself. He must lead by example, or else resign himself to the same disillusionment and condemnation that engulfed his predecessor.
IN THIS MOMENT, President Boakai must choose honoring the promises of reform and responsible leadership, or continue down the well-worn path of waste and hypocrisy.
THE NATION CANNOT afford to be deceived again.
