By Socrates Smythe Saywon
A wave of public criticism has erupted over the 2025 national budget, with accusations that President Joseph Boakai’s administration is allocating a disproportionate share of resources to government operations while neglecting the broader needs of the Liberian people.
Political commentator and 2029 presidential hopeful Matthew Nyanplu expressed outrage in a social media post, publicly criticizing senior officials including Mo Ali, Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan, Senate Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, Vice President Jeremiah Koung, and President Joseph Boakai. “Rescue Mo Ali, Rescue Augustine Ngafuan, Rescue Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence, Rescue Jeremiah Kpan Koung, Rescue Grandpa JNB are all happy to budget and spend on themselves US$773 million of an $880 million dollar budget in 2025,” Nyanplu wrote.
He described the budget structure as one designed not to serve ordinary Liberians but to preserve the privileges of Liberia’s ruling elite. “The three governments we have had after the civil war have all failed spectacularly. The Liberian people must go down in history and understand that the government structure we have today was never designed to benefit the common man,” he stated.
Nyanplu further argued that meaningful change in Liberia would require dismantling and rebuilding the entire structure of governance. “Making Liberia a great country and an envy of the region, and the world will begin with tearing down the entire structure of the government as we know it and rebuilding it from scratch. We are committed to doing just that from day one as President!”
According to him, the current fiscal approach is unsustainable and exploitative. “It is just simple mathematics. If you are swallowing up everything you collect in taxes, but depend on aid and loans to invest in your people, you are just working for your pockets and not the Liberian people. You eat 90% as government and throw 10% at us,” he asserted.
The Unity Party-led government’s reported use of $773 million out of the $880 million budget on administrative costs has fueled accusations that it is following in the footsteps of past administrations, including those led by the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. “They are all culprits in Liberia’s underdevelopment! Scandalous!” Nyanplu declared.
Critics also blasted President Boakai for what they see as excessive personal luxuries amid national hardship. Nyanplu pointed to the president’s use of three 2025 brand-new Lexus vehicles in his convoy and private jet travel, claiming the administration has also resorted to bribing unlawfully dismissed officials to avoid court challenges.
“Liberian people money not good for Liberians, only loan good for us while Oldman Joe Boakai and his cabals feast on our backs,” Nyanplu lamented.
The growing discontent over the budget stresses increasing concerns that the Boakai administration may be drifting away from its “Rescue Mission” mantra and instead reinforcing a cycle of elite privilege and public exclusion.
As pressure mounts, political observers say the government will be forced to respond to rising calls for transparency, fiscal responsibility, and reforms aimed at ensuring that the national budget reflects the needs of ordinary Liberians, not just those in power.
Like this:
Like Loading…
