By Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe (political leader, Liberia People’s Party)
Liberia’s 2027 budget must put citizens’ basic needs ahead of excessive official compensation and costly government operations. Putting more money in the budget for a few top government officials and less money for a majority of the people is legalized theft.
Reduce inflated salaries, allowances and benefits at the top while protecting modestly paid employees. Publish senior officials’ total compensation and benchmark it against comparable offices in Rwanda, Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Seychelles and Burkina Faso, accounting for national income and living standards.
Liberia cannot justify paying its Speaker and President Pro Tempore more than their United States counterparts while schools Teachers aren’t pay on time , lack chairs and hospitals lack medicines.
Publish the figures for honest comparison.
Reduce foreign travel budgets and delegations. Stop purchasing vehicles for lawmakers at taxpayers’ expense. If government facilitates vehicle purchases for their personal ownership, require full repayment through transparent salary deductions, without public subsidy.
The President should move into the Executive Mansion to reduce the expense and disruption associated with daily presidential movements.
Ring-fence the savings for education, healthcare, food security and infrastructure. Publish quarterly reports showing expenditure and results.
Eliminate graduation fees completely. Prohibit schools from compelling parents to buy uniforms from them or designated vendors. Parents must remain free to obtain compliant uniforms at affordable prices.
Unless the budget’s allocation formula changes in favor of the people, unmet needs risk provoking more protests by students, teachers, health workers, law enforcement officers, other civil servants and essential government employees.
Cut the cost of running government and direct the savings toward meeting people’s needs. Liberia’s development must be measured by better lives for its people, not greater comfort for its officials.
Liberia did not experience coup d’atats and civil conflicts because of tribal or religious or badluck. It was a result of bad governance. Bad governance is the kind of government that makes a few people in government happy and civil servants as well as the masses of the people unhappy.
Mr. President and lawmakers please listen to the cries of the people another national crisis. Let the 2027 be the starting point of a better Liberia.
Government is a place to serve, not to steal. A better Liberia is possible!!
