By Festus Poquie
Liberia’s former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change is mounting an increasingly pointed campaign to claim credit for public infrastructure projects financed or initiated under ex-President George Weah, challenging President Joseph Boakai’s government to demonstrate what it has built independently as the 2029 election approaches.
The campaign, led by former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, has put current Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Ngafuan on the defensive, exposing a political vulnerability for the Unity Party administration as it works to complete inherited projects while facing demands for new investments.
Tweah, a leading strategist for the CDC, argues that political credit should primarily go to the administration that secured financing for a project rather than the government that subsequently completes it.
He says the distinction is necessary to counter what he describes as misleading claims that the Weah administration accomplished little during its six years in office.
In a series of Facebook posts, Tweah cited hospitals, government offices, markets, sports facilities, schools and road projects that he said were financed, initiated or substantially advanced under Weah.
He also challenged Ngafuan to identify projects financed by the current government, pointing to Liberia’s growing national budget as evidence of the resources available to the Boakai administration.
The dispute comes as the Unity Party government approaches the midpoint of its six-year term, increasing scrutiny of its progress on infrastructure and other campaign promises.
A fight over who gets the credit
Tweah singled out a $30 million financing package for a Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation transmission line, arguing that the Weah administration secured the money for a project now being dedicated under Boakai.
He acknowledged that the project originated under former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf but said both Sirleaf and Weah deserved recognition because the latter administration substantially financed the work.
Tweah applied the same argument to the Redemption Hospital project, claiming the CDC government had completed about 70% of construction before leaving office.
The former finance minister urged journalists to establish the financing history of public projects before reporting on them, arguing that governments should not receive disproportionate credit simply for completing work initiated by their predecessors.
“Presidents who merely implement what other presidents started and did not do any additional financing would get NO credit,” Tweah wrote, setting out his proposed standard for assessing presidential legacies.
The argument gives the CDC a way to challenge the Unity Party’s political narrative without having to demonstrate that every project was completed during Weah’s tenure. It also shifts the debate toward financing commitments, construction milestones and the extent to which each administration advanced individual projects.
However, the distinction between securing financing, awarding contracts, starting construction and completing infrastructure remains important.
A project can involve several administrations, and determining responsibility requires examining the financing agreements, disbursements, construction records and work completed under each government.
Ngafuan defends inherited projects:
Ngafuan has pushed back against criticism that the Boakai administration should be delivering more new infrastructure instead of completing projects inherited from its predecessor.
In video posed on his Facebook page, the finance minister questioned whether the government should abandon unfinished projects to begin new ones.
“How can we abandon the road to Tapita and the road to Zwedru,” Ngafuan said, defending the continuation of existing infrastructure work.
Ngafuan also cited a hospital in Grand Gedeh County and new military barracks in Nimba County as examples of government projects. Tweah disputed the attribution of the Grand Gedeh hospital, claiming it belonged to the Weah administration’s infrastructure legacy.
