By Sidiki Fofana | Truth In Ink
By Monday morning, July 7, 2025, Liberians awoke to the stunning news of a $1.8 billion investment deal signed between the Government of Liberia and HPX, a U.S.-based mining company.
It should have been a moment of national celebration, job creation, economic revival, and global investor confidence. Yet, rather than jubilation, the mood was dominated by one unsettling question: Why didn’t our government tell us?
The announcement didn’t come from the Executive Mansion or the Ministry of Information. It came from a press release issued by the United States Embassy near Monrovia. This silence, deafening in its symbolism, starkly contradicted a government that has boasted even the most trivial undertakings, from announcing two used buses from Ghana as a public transport milestone to parading a few earth-moving machines as evidence of national recovery.
But this is not the first time the Boakai administration has chosen secrecy over transparency. The arrival of the now controversial “yellow machines” was similarly shrouded in mystery. The public was denied access to procurement details, no legislative debate was held, and oversight mechanisms were bypassed.
Even more disturbing was the recent extrajudicial removal of a Guinean national under court jurisdiction, reportedly deported in secret to Guinea’s ruling junta, his lawyer still claims he has no knowledge of his client’s whereabouts.
Then came the so-called NPA Reform Bill, quietly passed by both Houses of the Legislature and now awaiting the President’s signature. The law, which seeks to restructure the entire port system by transferring control to county-based authorities, never benefited from public hearings or stakeholder engagement. Several lawmakers have openly admitted they never saw, debated, or voted on the bill.
This is no longer about isolated incidents. It is about a pattern of governance that rejects transparency, dismisses scrutiny, and mocks accountability.
What is the Boakai’s government hiding? Secrecy: The Legal and Moral Violation
Liberia’s 1986 Constitution is unambiguous:
“There shall be no limitation on the public right to be informed about the government and its functionaries.” – Article 15(c), Constitution of Liberia
The Public Procurement and Concessions Act (PPCA, 2005) also mandates competitive bidding, full disclosure, and public scrutiny for major concession deals. The Boakai administration’s silent signing of a $1.8 billion agreement without public vetting is not just politically problematic, it may be legally defective. In past cases such as Liberia Mining Corporation v. Government of Liberia (2009), courts nullified concessions executed outside public procurement channels.
Secrecy in government is not merely poor communication, it is often the birthplace of corruption, impunity, and abuse of power. As former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis aptly said:
“Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
When governance happens in the shadows, rot festers, and accountability dies. Liberia needs not look far for the dangers of secret governance. The Taylor regime concealed arms deals and illicit resource contracts under the pretext of national interest.
The result was war, bloodshed, and international disgrace. Even under President Sirleaf, backlash erupted after revelations of secretive oil deals and land concessions signed without community consultation.
As political philosopher John Stuart Mill warned:
“A state that dwarfs its people… will find that with small men, no great thing can really be accomplished.”
A government that hides information from its citizens is not empowering them—it is rendering them politically impotent.
Boakai’s Broken Promise
Candidate Boakai won hearts, and votes by promising open government, transparency, and public trust. He denounced the Weah administration’s secrecy and mismanagement. Yet today, the same President presides over secretive concession deals, closed-door legislation, and unexplained international deportations.
It is not simply hypocrisy; it is a betrayal of democratic principles. It signals that this administration prefers shadow over oversight, loyalty over law, and silence over scrutiny.
Conclusion: The Death of Transparency Is the Birth of Tyranny
Liberia cannot afford a government that does not trust its people. Transparency is not a favor the government grants, it is a right the people own. The cost of secrecy is always the same: corruption, illegitimacy, and ultimately, failure.
We must demand more not just prosperity, but transparency with prosperity. Not just deals, but disclosure. Not just development, but democratic development.
When the government no longer informs, involves, or respects the people, it stops being a democracy, it becomes an operation cloaked in tranny. The people deserve the truth. And if the government won’t give it, the people must demand it.
