By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor
Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Ngafuan has publicly acknowledged that the Unity Party-led government is completing several development projects initiated under former President George Manneh Weah and the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) administration.
Speaking on ongoing infrastructure and development efforts, Ngafuan said the current administration has been compelled to both complete inherited projects and undertake new initiatives. “If you had completed the old projects, we would have been doing only the new projects. But we now have to complete the old projects while doing the new ones simultaneously,” Ngafuan remarked.
His comments have sparked renewed debate over project ownership and development achievements between the ruling Unity Party government and the opposition CDC.
Responding to the minister’s statement, former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah argued that several major projects currently being advanced by the Boakai administration were substantially completed under the Weah government.
Tweah cited the new Redemption Hospital project as a key example, claiming that the facility was approximately 70 percent completed before the CDC left office.
“The CDC administration completed the new Redemption Hospital at 70 percent, yet your Rescue Government wants to claim it while saying the CDC did nothing,” Tweah said. “Had we won the election; we would have been the ones completing all our projects across multiple sectors.”
The former finance minister further noted that the hospital project faced significant implementation challenges that required intervention and coordination with the World Bank. He maintained that credit for the project should be shared between former Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Weah.
“The Redemption project encountered serious challenges that we had to resolve with the World Bank. Credit for it goes to Presidents Sirleaf and Weah,” Tweah asserted.
Tweah also challenged the Boakai administration to identify major development projects that have been independently conceived and financed under its tenure. He argued that with nearly three years in office and a national budget exceeding $1.3 billion, the government should be able to point to signature projects of its own.
He urged the administration to acknowledge the contributions of its predecessor where appropriate, emphasizing that recognition of completed or inherited initiatives is a matter of fairness and accountability.
The exchange highlights the continuing political contest over development accomplishments and the legacy of public investment in Liberia.
