Published: December 10, 2025
MONROVIA — A new policy paper released by the Agenda for Liberia’s Transformation (ALT) warns that Liberia’s governance system is “structurally defective” and cannot deliver meaningful progress without comprehensive constitutional and administrative reforms. The group contends that President Joseph Boakai’s pledge of national renewal is at risk of stalling unless the government addresses what it calls an over-bloated, overlapping, and politically padded bureaucracy.
The 34-page paper, titled “Governance Reform Imperatives: The Quest for Effective Government in Liberia,” was issued this month to the Executive Mansion, the 55th Legislature, civil society groups, and the general public. Authored by governance expert Dr. George Wah Williams, the document provides a clear assessment: Liberia’s governance failures are not due to “wrong people in the right places,” but to a broken state structure that has become too large to manage and too weak to provide services.
‘A government everywhere in presence but nowhere in impact’
ALT states that Liberia has spent decades cycling between hope and disappointment because successive administrations focused on personnel changes instead of structural reform. The result, the paper states, is a “franken government”—a maze of ministries, agencies, and commissions with duplicated mandates, conflicting jurisdictions, and chronic waste.
The group highlights ongoing tensions between the Ministry of Labor and the Civil Service Agency over employment regulations. It also notes overlapping responsibilities among the Liberia Land Authority, the National Bureau of Concessions, and the Environmental Protection Agency concerning land and concession oversight, as well as redundant security duties among the Liberia National Police, Drug Enforcement Agency, and immigration services.
“This is not a government designed to work; it is a government designed to employ political loyalists,” the paper states, warning that bureaucracy is draining national resources and undermining service delivery.
Warning to the Boakai administration
With the Boakai administration approaching its third year in office, ALT says the window for “transformative change” is closing. Despite the flagship ARREST Agenda, the paper argues, the administration has been reluctant to “cut its own fat,” allowing political accommodation to overshadow reform.
“The quest for national renewal seems dim, not because of a lack of vision, but because of a lack of courage to dismantle structural impediments,” Dr. Williams writes.
ALT’s reform blueprint
ALT proposes a two-track overhaul anchored in constitutional amendments and executive restructuring.
Key proposals include:
- Reducing presidential appointment power: Mandating independent, merit-based vetting for tenure and semi-autonomous agency positions before nominees reach the President.
- Legislative reform: Capping the Legislature’s budget as a percentage of the national budget and reassessing the “full-time” legislative structure.
- Judicial independence: Creating a constitutionally protected funding mechanism while strengthening accountability measures to curb corruption.
- Merging and dissolving agencies: Eliminating overlapping bodies and consolidating social protection mandates.
- Reducing political appointees: Limiting ministries to two deputy ministers—Administration and Operations—and shifting technical leadership to career civil servants.
ALT says these reforms should be codified in a proposed Government Rationalization Act.
Challenge to the Legislature
The paper places responsibility squarely on the 55th Legislature, urging lawmakers to champion reforms even when they diminish legislative perks.
“You cannot simply be a rubber stamp for the Executive, nor can you be an obstructionist bloc,” ALT writes. “Show the Liberian people that you can legislate efficiency.”
Mobilizing for 2029
Positioning itself as both a think tank and a political movement, ALT says it will launch nationwide town halls to educate the public on how bureaucratic waste affects daily life — from poor roads to underfunded schools. The group also plans to identify and support reform-oriented candidates for the 2029 elections.
“If the current incumbents will not reform the government, we will replace them with those who will,” the paper declares.
‘Repair, not rescue’
ALT concludes that Liberia doesn’t need a bigger government but a smarter and leaner one. The Boakai administration, it says, must shift from “rescue to repair” by rebuilding the machinery of the state itself.
“The time for excuses has passed,” Dr. Williams writes. “The quest for national renewal is only dim if we lack the courage to light the torch of reform.”
Dr. Williams, a governance specialist and educator, is Director of Global Programs and Policy at EDDEIN, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit, and an adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College.
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