MONROVIA, LIBERIA – Exiled Liberian activist Martin K. N. Kollie has launched a detailed critique of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), calling into question the administration’s claims of progress and exposing what he describes as misplaced priorities and underfunding of critical sectors. In a lengthy analysis dissecting Boakai’s January 27 address to the 55th National Legislature, Kollie acknowledges some achievements but insists that they are too slow, insufficient, and overshadowed by poor governance choices.
Kollie’s assessment praises efforts such as the establishment of the War Crimes Office and Ombudsman Office, the commissioning of audits, and Liberia’s qualification for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact. However, he argues that these represent “snail-paced progress” rather than the “steady progress” Boakai claimed. More importantly, he highlights glaring inconsistencies in budget allocations, pointing to the administration’s failure to adequately fund education, health care, and social welfare while prioritizing perks for government officials.
A key focal point of Kollie’s critique is the education sector, where he accuses the government of misrepresenting its achievements. While Boakai boasted about paying off scholarship arrears and covering West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) fees, Kollie provides budget figures showing that only $149,996 was allocated for WAEC arrears in 2024—far less than the $600,000 spent by the previous administration in 2023. Similarly, only $579,119 of the $1.37 million budgeted for scholarships was spent by November 2024. These figures, Kollie argues, demonstrate a lack of real commitment to education.
Further undermining the government’s education claims, Kollie highlights that Boakai’s own office budget for 2024—$1.72 million—was nearly equal to the $1.88 million allocated for basic and secondary education nationwide. He notes that community colleges across the country suffered severe underfunding, with institutions like Grand Gedeh, Sinoe, and River Gee Community Colleges receiving barely half of their budgets. Despite an overall education budget of $111 million, only $86 million had been spent by November, with nearly half of that going to salaries. “What can $10.5 million do to improve education in Liberia?” Kollie asks.
The health sector, another critical area, also received sharp criticism. While Boakai claimed reductions in maternal and child mortality, Kollie challenges the president’s failure to provide specific numbers, citing UNICEF data that still shows alarmingly high infant mortality rates of 72.3 deaths per 1,000 live births. He references a May 2024 UNICEF mission report, which found that 1,100 women and 8,510 newborns die annually during childbirth in Liberia. These figures, he argues, contradict any claim of meaningful progress.
Kollie exposes a stark disparity in health funding, revealing that just $9 million was allocated for 23 referral hospitals—including JFK and JFD—while $14 million was set aside for the medical needs of five top officials: the President, Vice President, Speaker, Senate Pro Tempore, and Deputy Speaker. “This is health inequality,” he asserts. “When ‘big shots’ are sick, they use tax dollars to travel abroad for treatment, while ordinary citizens suffer in poorly funded hospitals.”
On social welfare, Kollie dismisses Boakai’s declaration of a war on drugs as hollow rhetoric. Despite announcing drug abuse as a national emergency, the government allocated only $4 million to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), of which just $1.75 million was spent by November 2024. More than 70% of that amount went to salaries, leaving a negligible sum for actual drug enforcement. Kollie also questions the effectiveness of the government’s social assistance program, pointing out that the $586,000 disbursed to vulnerable households in 2024 was largely World Bank-funded, while the Senate alone spent nearly the same amount on a retreat.
The activist also takes aim at Monrovia’s sanitation crisis, acknowledging the president’s admission that 42% of Liberians lack basic toilet facilities. However, Kollie argues that the administration has done little to address the issue, revealing that out of the $5.5 million budgeted for the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC), only $4.5 million had been spent by November. Similarly, the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) received just $2.7 million from its $4.7 million budget, with $2.2 million going to salaries and compensation. “Monrovia’s cleanliness remains at the mercy of donor funds,” Kollie laments.
Energy and infrastructure development, two pillars of the administration’s “transformative development plan,” also come under scrutiny. While Boakai spoke of electrifying 100,000 households annually to achieve 75% energy access by 2030, Kollie challenges him to disclose how many households were actually connected in 2024. He notes that only 3.6% of the $738 million budget was allocated to the Energy and Environment sector, and that Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) received a meager $2 million from its $9.7 million budget. Worse still, LEC reportedly incurred $24 million in debt.
Kollie warns that Boakai’s ambitious $8.4 billion development plan, which relies on 60% foreign aid, is a risky gamble, as global financial conditions make donor commitments uncertain. He suggests that instead of banking on unpredictable international funding, the government should focus on cutting public waste, such as extravagant salaries, foreign travel, luxury vehicles, and non-essential allowances.
Corruption remains another major concern in Kollie’s analysis. While Boakai touted various audit and investigative reports exposing financial mismanagement, Kollie argues that the president has failed to act on them. “Hundreds of millions of dollars were mismanaged, misappropriated, and stolen,” he writes. “To date, no one has been held accountable.” He accuses the administration of rewarding corrupt officials with settlement packages instead of prosecution, undermining the fight against corruption.
The activist exposes how Liberia’s anti-corruption institutions are chronically underfunded. The Asset Recovery Task Force received only $481,000 out of a $1.2 million budget by November, while the Office of the War Crimes Court got just $131,000 out of $500,000. The Ombudsman Office fared even worse, receiving $88,000 out of $321,000. Meanwhile, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), General Auditing Commission (GAC), and other oversight agencies saw most of their budgets consumed by salaries, leaving little for actual enforcement.
Kollie concludes his critique by challenging Boakai to take meaningful action instead of delivering lofty speeches. He calls on the administration to make tough decisions, prioritizing public services over elite privileges, enforcing accountability for corruption, and pursuing self-reliant economic strategies instead of relying on foreign aid.
