Liberian President, George Weah has again disappointed the WASH sector of the country. The President in his last State of the Nation Address before the National Legislature on Tuesday, January 30, 2023, again failed to address issues of the WASH sector.
Since 2018 till date, the Liberian leader has not mentioned the WASH Commission or activities of the WASH sector in any of the sixth State of the Nation Addresses.
Stakeholders of the WASH sector in Liberia have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction and are even doubtful if the Liberian President truly knows about the existence of the WASH Commission.
The President is yet to sign the Open Defecation Free Road Map which was taken to his office in November of 2021, after the World Toilet Day celebration in Monrovia.
This is a further demonstration that the President and his government do not have an interest in the WASH sector, or have the political will to make WASH a priority for budgetary allocation.
The Chairman of the WASH Commission, Bobby Whitfield recently made a public outburst and expressed displeasure over the government’s refusal to support the WASH sector.
Whitfield disclosed that 98% of support for the WASH sector of Liberia comes from donor partners, while 2% reluctantly comes from the government.
The government during 2021/2022 budget period first announced five hundred thousand (500,000) USD for the WASH Commission, a move that was considered welcoming by WASH CSOs but later took away $250,000 for what it called pressing national issues, and recently took the remaining $250,000, leaving the WASH sector without any support from the government.
It can be recalled that the disappointment of the WASH sector started from the very inception of the Weah-led government in 2018 when the President and senior government officials boycotted the much-publicized WASH Joint Sector Review in the port city of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
