MONROVIA – Former Minister of Education George Kronnisanyon Werner has publicly disagreed with political commentator Henry P. Costa over the heated debate surrounding Liberia’s proposed port reform bills, cautioning that while decentralization of the port sector is necessary, the current legislation is poorly structured and risks creating serious institutional confusion if enacted without correction.
Werner’s response follows Costa’s January 6, 2025 podcast, in which the broadcaster alleged that Senate Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence and Montserrado County Senator Darius Dillon were maneuvering to concession the Port of Buchanan to French billionaire Vincent Bolloré. Costa questioned the intent behind the bills and warned that powerful interests could benefit at the expense of the public. Werner addressed the controversy the following day in a statement published on his official Facebook page titled, “Why I Disagree With My Friend Henry Costa Publicly.”
In his statement, Werner said he respects Costa’s vigilance but rejected the suggestion that the port reform debate is misguided. “This debate is not tabata (nonsense), and it is not fooluseh (foolishness),” Werner wrote. He stressed that the issue cuts deeply into Liberia’s economic design and determines who benefits from the system and whether counties outside Monrovia will ever experience real economic opportunity.
Werner argued that Liberia’s long-standing centralization of port authority has come at a heavy cost to regional development. For decades, he said, nearly all major port decisions were made in Monrovia, leaving ports in Buchanan, Greenville, and Harper waiting on approvals that were often delayed or never granted. As a result, repairs stalled, investments lagged, and regional ports were prevented from becoming drivers of local economic growth.
He supported his argument with data from the 2022 Population and Housing Census, which shows that 30.5 percent of Liberians are internal migrants, up from 21.7 percent in 2008. Werner noted that Montserrado County gained approximately 1,054,190 people, while counties such as Maryland, Grand Kru, Sinoe, River Gee, Grand Gedeh, Grand Bassa, and River Cess continue to lose working-age residents. “People are not leaving because they dislike home,” Werner stated. “They are leaving because opportunity has already left, pulled into a capital-centric system.”
According to Werner, this imbalance is rooted in what he described as Liberia’s inherited “queen bee economy,” a system established during the settler era that concentrated political power, customs revenue, and decision-making in one center. He said the capital became the hub while the regions were reduced to feeders, a structure that weakened regional institutions and turned strategic ports into afterthoughts.
While firmly supporting decentralization, Werner warned that the current port reform bills fall short of responsible reform. He said the proposed dissolution of the National Port Authority fails to clearly address pension protections, staff welfare, outstanding debts, existing contracts, and overlaps with the Liberia Maritime Authority. He described the approach as “administrative shock therapy,” arguing that ports are complex institutions whose disruption could have far-reaching consequences.
Werner cautioned that a chaotic transition could trigger lawsuits, work stoppages, cargo delays, and reputational damage for Liberia. He emphasized that ports do not only move goods but also jobs, revenue, and investor confidence, and that disorder in the sector could undermine national credibility.
Addressing concerns about questionable motives behind the reform, Werner argued that governance systems should not rely on assumptions of pure intentions. He stressed that effective laws are designed with safeguards such as transparency, audits, separation of roles, conflict-of-interest rules, and independent oversight to prevent abuse, regardless of who holds power.
Werner welcomed President Joseph Boakai’s decision to pause the reform process, describing it as a necessary step to correct the bills rather than abandon decentralization altogether. He called for a legally empowered transition authority, clear separation between port regulation and maritime oversight, protections for workers and contractual partners, and a phased implementation plan that avoids disruption.
He concluded by warning against both extremes, rushing into confusion or clinging to an outdated centralized system out of fear. “Decentralize with law, clarity, timelines, accountability, and oversight,” Werner said, adding that silence in moments of national consequence amounts to consent. If properly structured, he argued, ports such as Buchanan, Greenville, and Harper can finally become engines of regional prosperity rather than dependents of a Monrovia-centered economy.
