By George S. Tengbeh | Labor Advocate and Good Governance Researcher
In May 2025, a joint report released by the Center for Democratic Governance and Afrobarometer painted a picture of Liberia that is not only disconnected from reality but dangerously misleading. Six months into President Joseph Boakai’s administration, the timing and tone of the report raise red flags for any serious observer concerned about truth, governance, and justice.
The report’s findings, allegedly based on surveys conducted with 1,200 individuals, claim to reflect public sentiment and national progress. But when juxtaposed with lived realities and international data, it becomes evident that the Afrobarometer report is not just flawed, it is dead on arrival.
To begin with, the socio-economic situation in Liberia is far direr than the Afrobarometer report acknowledges. According to the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Liberia ranks 120 out of 127 countries, placing it among the worst globally in terms of food security. This is not an abstract statistic.
It reflects the painful daily truth for millions of Liberians who sleep on empty stomachs and are locked in a vicious cycle of poverty, malnutrition, and hopelessness. More than 40% of the population is malnourished, and the rate of child stunting and wasting remains alarmingly high. These facts, published by credible international sources like FrontPageAfrica and National Courrier, are not hypothetical. They are a testament to a crisis, one that no survey of 1,200 can whitewash.
This leads to a crucial question: How can any report claim to represent the views of Liberians while omitting such critical context? The lack of transparency in Afrobarometer’s methodology, particularly its failure to clarify which counties were surveyed and what demographics were included, undermines its credibility. Liberia is not a monolith.
Its fifteen counties possess vastly different social, economic, and cultural realities. To generalize national sentiment without reflecting this diversity is not just lazy; it is misleading. If the survey primarily targeted urban centers, particularly Monrovia, it fails to capture the devastating conditions in rural Liberia, where poverty bites even harder.
Equally troubling is the sense that the report is part of a broader effort to frame the current administration as competent and responsive, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The idea that six months is enough time for an administration to significantly improve national sentiment, especially after inheriting a deeply broken system, is naive at best and propagandist at worst. The Boakai administration has done little to inspire confidence. Its reactive governance style, lack of clear policy direction, and failure to address urgent issues like unemployment, corruption, and hunger are becoming painfully apparent.
Consider the administration’s approach to anti-corruption. Suspending over 450 government officials for failing to declare assets, as reported by the Associated Press, sounds commendable on the surface. But such measures are reactive, not proactive. Where were the compliance systems before the suspensions? What follow-up actions have been taken to investigate or prosecute these officials? The suspension announcement may have gained international headlines, but within Liberia, citizens have seen this script before, flashy announcements, little action.
Similarly, the much-touted establishment of a war crimes court, recently approved by the Liberian Senate as reported by The Guardian, is a laudable step towards justice. But justice for past atrocities, while necessary, does not feed the hungry today. Nor does it guarantee security, job creation, or transparency in government spending. The Boakai administration must not be allowed to hide behind symbolic gestures while the majority of Liberians continue to suffer.
The gap between government rhetoric and citizen experience has never been wider. On the ground, Liberians speak of rising insecurity, including mysterious deaths, ritualistic killings, and escalating tribalism and nepotism. The so-called rule of law feels more like a tool of political manipulation than a system of justice. What’s worse, the economic environment is deteriorating. Small businesses are struggling, civil servants face salary delays, and public hospitals lack basic drugs. Yet, some reports claim a “50/50” sentiment in the country. How?
This is where we must question the intent behind such surveys. When data is used not to inform but to pacify, it becomes propaganda. The comparison to the staged praises offered by some of Liberia’s most disenfranchised, commonly referred to as Zogos, is not far-fetched. These are individuals often manipulated by politicians, offered handouts in exchange for loyalty, and tragically used as pawns in a political game. When such manipulated voices become part of surveys, the data becomes compromised, distorted, and dangerous.
In contrast to the Afrobarometer report’s portrayal, the call for national protest is growing louder. On July 17, civil society groups are organizing an “Enough is Enough” protest to confront the lies, demand transparency, and call for genuine governance reforms. This is not just a protest against a government. It is a protest against a system that continues to fail its people. It is a protest against misrepresentation, manipulation, and marginalization.
Civil society must now assume a greater role. Organizations, media institutions, churches, and youth movements must rise beyond passive criticism to active engagement. We must demand more from our leaders, call out misleading reports, and present alternative narratives rooted in facts and lived experiences. Reports like the Global Hunger Index, which clearly outlines Liberia’s economic and nutritional failures, must be our compass, not surveys crafted to please donors or protect incumbents.
Moreover, we must remember that Liberia’s challenges are systemic. From corruption to greed, from the collapse of national security to the erosion of institutional credibility, these are not issues that surface in six months, and they cannot be solved by six-month surveys. They require long-term strategies, inclusive national dialogues, and a break from the entrenched culture of political patronage.
In the meantime, let us not be deceived. A shiny report cannot mask a broken system. A staged statistic cannot feed a hungry child. And no amount of political spin can erase the truth that ordinary Liberians live every day. Until we face that truth head-on, and demand accountability from those in power, Liberia will continue to oscillate between fragile hope and persistent despair.
To those still holding onto the Afrobarometer findings, I urge you to visit a rural school without chalk, a hospital without medicine, or a mother feeding her children on borrowed food. Then tell them that life in Liberia is improving.
Liberia does not need more surveys. It needs sincerity, courage, and action.
George S. Tengbeh
Labor Advocate | Researcher on Governance and Policy Reform
