MONROVIA – Former Finance and Development Planning Minister under the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) administration, Samuel D. Tweah, on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, expressed strong support for the Liberian Senate’s decision to review the harmonization reform in the civil service. Tweah described the review as “welcoming, timely, and important to destroying harmonization propaganda.”
Speaking in a statement, Tweah emphasized that the review was long overdue. “It is my hope the Speaker of the House of Representatives embraces this review so that the country finally understands the honest facts and truths about harmonization,” Tweah said. He stressed that the process would “bury the lies that are still lingering and end the impossible and illusory talk about reversing it.”
As the minister who presided over the harmonization reform, Tweah stated that he and his team were ready to provide information to the Senate during the review. He also called on other key stakeholders, including Vice President Jeremiah K. Koung, Senator J. Gbleh-bo Browne, former Representatives Clarence Massaquoi and Edward Karfiah, and Senator Francis K. Dopoh, to make their contributions public.
Tweah recounted the challenges faced while implementing the reform, particularly during the planning of the public wage bill. “I am reminded of our meeting at the Farmington Hotel and of the difficulties we faced in bringing the wage bill to the goal of $296 million, which would have enabled us to reach the 1% of GDP target for public wage,” Tweah said.
He recalled the Farmington meeting as a pivotal moment, dubbing it the “Farmington Consensus,” where key decisions on wage adjustments and staff protection were agreed upon. “No healthcare worker or teacher should be cut as we moved toward our goal,” Tweah noted, highlighting the protective measures embedded in the reform.
Tweah explained that while healthcare workers were shielded from salary reductions, the judiciary was required to contribute its share of savings. He noted that legal mechanisms, particularly the work of Senator Francis Dopoh in drafting the National Standardization and Remuneration Act, ensured the process adhered to the law.
The former minister emphasized the transformative effect of harmonization on Liberia’s civil service. “Beyond generally protecting healthcare workers, harmonization did a lot for a whole class of specific healthcare workers of different categories,” he said.
Tweah cited examples, including staff at the Ganta hospital, which was donated to the Government of Liberia by then-Representative Koung. Harmonization enabled the government to take over their salaries, he noted, and credited this intervention for supporting Koung’s eventual election to the Senate.
Another example involved rural healthcare workers previously paid under the Fixed Amount Reimbursement Agreement (FARA), where the government assumed responsibility for their salaries under harmonization. “The difference is they would now have to pay taxes and social security deductions, which was not the case when they were directly paid by USAID,” Tweah explained.
He also recalled that over 2,000 healthcare workers added to the payroll by President Weah in 2018 were brought under the same harmonization framework, ensuring fair taxation and social security contributions. Tweah criticized public narratives in 2023 claiming, “you harmonized our pay, we will harmonize your vote,” as misleading and contrary to the facts of the reform.
Tweah called on the media and the public to verify his accounts and those of other key figures involved in harmonization. “As we go into the review, it would be interesting to watch how they answer questions on the Farmington Consensus, or about whether the pay of healthcare workers and teachers were protected,” he said.
The former minister strongly rejected claims about “reversing harmonization,” insisting that it could never mean undoing the gains achieved by the reform. “Reversing harmonization can never mean restoring the vast pay inequity, reintroducing the dual salary system, or removing health workers from the government payroll,” he stated.
Tweah underscored that harmonization was a data-driven, evidence-based reform designed to create fairness and efficiency in public service. “Public debate on these important issues has never been more interesting than the pending harmonization review would afford,” he said.
He urged other key actors, including Vice President Koung and Senator Dopoh, to provide their perspectives. “I, Del Francis Wreh, our technical lead on harmonization, Benedict Kolubah, and others in the CDC government have talked our own. It’s time for others like VP Koung and Francis Dopoh to talk their own too,” Tweah said.
The former finance minister concluded by reaffirming his support for the Senate’s review, calling it an “opportunity to illuminate the facts and end the misinformation surrounding the harmonization reform.” Tweah described the exercise as “a critical step toward public understanding and accountability in Liberia’s civil service.”
