MONROVIA – President Joseph Boakai is under fire for riding in a high-end 2025 Lexus LX 700HR Super Ultra Luxury SUV, a move critics say contradicts his previous promises of modest governance. The controversy has sparked public outrage, with activist Martin K. N. Kollie releasing a statement on Friday, March 28, 2025, condemning what he described as an unnecessary display of opulence while millions of Liberians remain jobless and thousands of civil servants struggle with low wages.
According to Kollie, Boakai’s use of the luxury vehicle, valued between $115,000 and $150,000, comes at a time when public school teachers, healthcare workers, and security personnel continue to be underpaid or unpaid altogether. The activist accused the president of disregarding the suffering of ordinary Liberians, despite previously criticizing former President George Weah for his extravagant lifestyle.
“When ex-President Weah flaunted his luxurious vehicles, including a Polaris Slingshot, President Boakai was one of his fiercest critics,” Kollie said. “Today, we note with disapproval Boakai’s use of a Lexus Super Ultra SUV. This is opulence, too, and we condemn it. This is not modesty. This is public waste.”
Kollie further alleged that $1.1 million was spent off-budget in the 2024 fiscal year to purchase vehicles for the convoys of President Boakai and Vice President Jeremiah Koung. He vowed to invoke the 2010 Freedom of Information (FOI) Law to demand a full financial disclosure from Executive Protection Service (EPS) Director Sam Gaye regarding the purchases.
“The president must readjust. This was never the promise made in 2023 to flaunt with a Lexus Super Ultra Luxury SUV while our people suffer and struggle every day to eke out a living,” Kollie stated.
President Boakai’s office has yet to respond to the growing backlash, but the issue has reignited public discourse over government spending and economic priorities at a time of mounting hardship in the country.
