By Sidiki Fofana | Truth In Ink
Is President Boakai governing through spin with the relaunch of his propaganda machine—Class Reloaded—while the nation sinks deeper into economic and social despair? “You can use propaganda to win, but you can’t use it to govern.”
— Isaac Doe, former Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, speaking on Spoon Talk, March 2025. These piercing words are no longer an abstract warning—they now echo the deepening frustration of Liberians who feel deceived by a Unity Party government they entrusted with their hope. Like so many before it, the Boakai administration may be falling into the historical trap of substituting media spin for meaningful reform. “It is not the press that is responsible for the people’s frustration. It is the failure of leadership.”
— James W. Thompson, The Liberian Observer, 1985 editorial during the Doe regime crackdown on dissent.
President Joseph Boakai’s administration, just eight months in, appears adrift. The economy is regressing, essential services are unreliable, and civil servants are in uproar over unpaid salaries. Instead of a reform surge, we’re witnessing a rhetorical relapse. The revival of Class Reloaded—a media platform once hailed as the communications nerve center of the “Rescue Mission”—now seems less a signal of momentum than a desperate attempt to reassert control.
But can narrative management substitute for governance? Can staged appearances feed hungry mouths? From Campaign Hope to Street Frustration.
The Unity Party’s rise was not elite-driven. It was built from below: in market stalls, on motorbike taxis, and on grassroots social media. But that base is now restless. Motorcyclists—who played a key logistical and mobilization role in Boakai’s campaign—are staging protests across Monrovia, demanding better living standards and respect.
In Waterside Market, Lorpu, a longtime Boakai voter, shakes her head in disappointment:
“This is not what we expected. This is not what we voted Boakai for. Ah George Weah, we sorry oh.”
It’s a sentiment growing louder. Independent surveys from Spoon TV and OK FM (April 2025) show over 60% of marketers and informal workers now rate the government’s performance as “poor” or “disappointing.”
“You cannot mobilize the poor with promises, then abandon them with policies.”
— Dr. Robtel Neajai Pailey, African Arguments, 2022.
An Economic Storm—and No Lifeboats in Sight
The Liberian Dollar continues its downward spiral against the U.S. Dollar. Fuel prices spike without notice. Civil servants—teachers, nurses, police—go months unpaid. These aren’t inherited glitches—they’re symptomatic of weak fiscal discipline and broken promises.
Ironically, these same agencies are now led by officials who were once loud critics of similar dysfunction under the Weah administration. Take Stephen Johnson, now Deputy Director of the Liberia Aviation Authority. Just last year, he tweeted:
“You can’t intellectualize suffering. If people are hungry, they’ll vote for bread, not buzzwords.”
— Stephen Johnson, Twitter, 2023.
Yet his agency is now under fire for persistent power outages at Roberts International Airport—seen by many as a new low in the country’s infrastructure decay.
Propaganda Reloaded—or “Cash Reloaded”?
The Unity Party’s response to criticism? Class Reloaded—a communications platform now resurrected by senior officials and party insiders. But its return is seen by many not as inspiration, but insult.
Cllr. Moriah Yea Kula-Korkpor, once a loyal party strategist and now a supporter of Alexander Cummings, derided the show as “Cash Reloaded.” In a now-viral Facebook post, she wrote:
“At this point, no amount of publicity and propaganda can explain the hunger and hardship… You can’t be cashing out the state coffers while people struggle for daily bread and expect to sell them rainbow in the skies.”
Her critique aligns with Liberia’s troubled history with state media manipulation. As historian Elwood Dunn noted:
“Propaganda in Liberia has traditionally served power, not people. It obscures the state’s failures rather than addressing them.” — Elwood Dunn, “The Annual Messages of the Presidents of Liberia,” Vol. 3
Mo Ali, one of the strategists behind the reboot, dismissed Korkpor’s critique by blaming her for the ANC’s poor 2023 performance—a deflection that has only enraged citizens further. One viewer asked:
“What does Moriah’s role with Cummings have to do with teachers being unpaid, or nurses feeding on credit?”
Ali’s call for all “Rescue Children” to tune in exclusively to Class Reloaded has drawn fierce comparison to authoritarian regimes.
“This mirrors tactics used by China’s Xinhua or North Korea’s KCTV—aimed at not only controlling dissent, but also reshaping the public’s perception of suffering.”
— Dr. T. Mark Jones, Media Studies Lecture, University of Liberia, 2024
Meanwhile, Meet the Press—the Ministry of Information’s once-vibrant media accountability forum has gone silent. Austerity for the Poor, Privilege for the Powerful
As Class Reloaded pushes a narrative of progress, behind the scenes the government is quietly preparing mass layoffs at public institutions. According to The Daylight (May 2025), the NPA and LWSC may downsize up to 1,000 workers, many of whom were employed under the previous administration.
Yet these agencies simultaneously boast of “restructuring wins” on social media. Behind the polished infographics lie suffering workers.
“So tell me, how will they make sense of this on Class Reloaded—that they’re dismissing us while increasing their own salaries?”
— Anonymous NPA employee, interviewed by FrontPage Africa, May 2025
Despite no official layoff statements, both FrontPage Africa and The Daylight have confirmed that senior officials across agencies have received salary increases—some exceeding the levels set under George Weah’s controversial tenure.
“Power in Liberia has long meant privilege—not sacrifice.” — Dr. Amos Sawyer, Liberian Governance Review, 2002.
This discrepancy—lavish pay for the few, job insecurity for the many—has become an albatross for the Boakai government. Where Is the Ministry of Information?
Once a bastion of transparency and critique under Weah, the Ministry of Information has gone quiet. The same ministers who once staged weekly press confrontations are now invisible.
“The Ministry is absent not because it lacks professionals—it’s absent because it lacks the moral capital to defend what it once opposed.”
— Analyst John Kollie, The Closing Argument, May 2025
Even traditional allies are turning. Spoon Network—previously a strong voice for the Rescue Mission—has grown critical. Martin Kollie, one of Liberia’s most vocal anti-Weah activists, has gone conspicuously silent. When your defenders fall quiet, the writing is on the wall. “A government without trusted messengers cannot build legitimacy—only resentment.” — The Analyst Editorial, April 2025
A Crisis of Trust
You can command a microphone, but you can’t silence a hungry stomach. Nurses who once shouted, “You harmonized our pay, we’ll harmonize your vote,” are still waiting for their pay slips. Teachers, janitors, sanitation workers—forgotten in the media haze—are the real measure of performance.
Liberian political history is filled with regimes that mistook messaging for governance. William Tubman’s suppression of dissent in the 1950s, Doe’s militarized censorship in the 1980s, Taylor’s war-time propaganda machine—all crumbled under the weight of unmet needs.
“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
— Malcolm X, 1963.
The lesson? Propaganda doesn’t fix potholes. It doesn’t feed families. And it doesn’t buy time forever.
The Verdict Is Coming:
If President Boakai hopes to salvage his legacy—or even complete his term—he must pivot from spin to substance. Class Reloaded cannot become the echo chamber of a failing mission. Liberians need not a slogan, but a strategy.
Because in the words of Stephen Johnson, once shouted into a megaphone at a Unity Party rally:
“You cannot intellectualize suffering.” And you certainly can’t rebrand it.
About the Author: Sidiki Fofana is an expert in organizational leadership and institutional change, with a proven track record in business development and political strategy. Trained in cybersecurity at Saint Joseph’s University, he brings a multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving and reform. As the founder of Truth In Ink Incorporated, Fofana is known for incisive commentary on Liberian politics, ethics, and social change.
