MONROVIA – Former Finance Minister of Liberia Samuel D. Tweah has offered a provocative analysis of the 2023 electoral outcome, arguing that the Coalition for Democratic Change’s (CDC) loss to the Unity Party (UP) was not a setback but a historical vindication. In a detailed commentary released on Saturday, December 5, 2025, Tweah explained that a second-term victory for the CDC could have left the party politically crippled due to the snowballing effect of lies and propaganda that began in 2018.
“I have told many that CDC’s loss in 2023 was its vindication in history, and had it won instead the party might have been terminally obliterated,” Tweah wrote. He suggested that the false narratives about the CDC, including allegations of eroding Liberia’s investment climate and mismanaging foreign aid, would have intensified under another term, making the party vulnerable to prolonged political attacks.
Tweah argued that these narratives, if left unchallenged by a UP victory, could have morphed into “settled truths,” further complicating the CDC’s political future. “Lies that began in 2018 would have eventually morphed into settled truths, rendering the political future of the CDC bleak, since the opportunity to disprove the lies, which we now have with a UP victory, would have been lost,” he explained. According to Tweah, losing allowed the CDC to reset its political credibility and exposed the contradictions in UP governance.
The former minister highlighted the advantages of seeing the opposing party govern, noting that Liberians can now compare promises with actual delivery. “The most effective agency was to have the party doing the propaganda govern the country so that Liberians have a clear opportunity to compare and contrast,” Tweah said, emphasizing that firsthand experience with UP governance provides clarity on performance and accountability.
Tweah also discussed the role of propaganda and misinformation in shaping public perception. He cited instances such as alleged auditor deaths, stolen census money, and mismanagement claims, arguing that such narratives would have only been fully addressed by allowing the UP to govern. “Nothing else would have afforded the party such clarity,” he wrote, pointing to subtle governance changes that can only be measured against actual administration outcomes.
The commentary examined the specific example of salary harmonization for nurses and teachers, which Tweah said was misconstrued as a pay cut, generating political resentment. “Harmonization protected nurses and teachers. It combined general allowance and basic salary and subjected this total to tax. It made all government workers pay social security, and many nurses believed deduction for social security was a cut in their pay,” he explained, noting that reversing harmonization would have been costly and impractical.
Tweah further highlighted initiatives like free tuition that benefited over 10,000 Liberians and salary adjustments that saved the government millions while raising compensation for 15,000 civil servants. He argued that UP’s current administration has been forced to continue many of these programs, inadvertently validating CDC achievements. “Free tuition would still have to be maintained by the UP, or else they face a monumental crisis,” he said.
The former minister contrasted the opposition strategies necessary against the UP with those against the CDC. While misinformation helped bring the UP to power, Tweah said opposition forces now need only facilitate public perception of contradictions between UP promises and governance outcomes. “In understanding this contradiction lies the scope of public appreciation of what CDC delivered in its six years, less the two years of COVID,” he stated.
Tweah also noted that President George Weah, similar to former U.S. President Donald Trump, bypassed Liberia’s intelligentsia to win popular support, yet this strategy carried risks, particularly the persistence of propaganda against him. “President WEAH, like President Trump, was able to bypass the intelligentsia to win. However, being arrayed against the intelligentsia comes with risks and disadvantages, prominent among them being the propaganda effect,” he wrote.
In conclusion, Tweah framed the CDC’s electoral loss as an opportunity rather than a failure. He argued that it preserved the party from being permanently discredited and positioned Liberians to evaluate political narratives against tangible governance outcomes. “It is the post-UNMIL governing by the Unity Party that is fashioning the biggest opportunities for confession about the lies that undid the CDC. Nothing more, nothing less,” Tweah said, underscoring his view that the loss was a strategic turning point in Liberia’s political landscape.
