Published: June 4, 2026
MONROVIA — The Boakai administration has retained Washington lobbying firm Ballard Partners at $100,000 a month, a $1.2 million annual commitment, under a contract signed May 18, 2026, through the Office of the President and registered with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The agreement, filed with the Justice Department’s National Security Division on May 29, 2026, identifies the Republic of Liberia as the foreign principal and lists Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Samuel A. Stevquoah as the government signatory. Brian Ballard, the firm’s founder and president, signed on behalf of Ballard Partners. The FARA filing, registration No. 7070, is publicly available on the Justice Department’s database.
Under the contract, Ballard Partners will “advise, counsel, and assist” the Liberian government in communicating with U.S. government officials, U.S. business entities, and non-governmental audiences, with the stated purpose of enhancing U.S.-Liberia bilateral relations. The agreement runs for an initial one-year term, and renews automatically on its anniversary unless terminated by either party with 30 days’ written notice. The first quarterly payment of $300,000 was due upon execution of the agreement.
The contract explicitly excludes Ballard Media Group’s strategic communications services, meaning any public relations or media work would require a separate arrangement.
A Recurring Arrangement With Deeper Roots
The May 2026 deal is not Liberia’s first with Ballard Partners. Federal disclosures show the firm first registered as an agent for the Government of Liberia on June 27, 2022, under a contract signed June 24, 2022, between Ballard and the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Justice. That contract was signed by then-Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah and then-Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean on behalf of the George Weah administration, at a rate of $75,000 per month, $900,000 annually.
The earlier contract covered substantively similar services: consulting, advocacy, and promotion of U.S.-Liberia bilateral ties, with a focus on trade and investment. It was similarly structured with quarterly installments of $225,000, auto-renewal provisions, and reimbursable expense allowances.
The 2026 agreement represents a 33 percent increase in the monthly retainer compared to the 2022 deal.
The Boakai administration, which took office in January 2024 following Weah’s defeat in the November 2023 general election, inherited the 2022 contract’s auto-renewal structure. The May 2026 agreement appears to be a separately negotiated arrangement rather than an amendment to the prior one, with the new filing listing “Republic of Liberia” as a distinct foreign principal from the earlier “Government of Liberia (Ministry of Finance)” entry.
Ballard’s Ties to Trump Circle
Brian Ballard chaired Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Florida and has long been regarded as one of Washington’s most connected Republican lobbyists. Africa Confidential reported in August 2022 that Liberia’s decision to retain Ballard was in part a calculation about access to the Trump political orbit, underscoring the firm’s value as a conduit to figures in the U.S. executive branch and Republican-led institutions.
With Trump back in the White House as of January 2025, that calculus appears to have been renewed. The timing of the May 2026 contract, roughly 16 months into Trump’s second term, coincides with a period of heightened African government interest in Washington access through firms with Republican connections.
Procurement Compliance in Question
Liberia’s Public Procurement and Concessions Act mandates that state contracts be guided by annual procurement plans and competitive procedures. Regulation 3 of the Public Procurement Commission requires the Ministry of Finance’s involvement in any contract exceeding $250,000 and attestation by the Ministry of Justice before execution.
The 2022 contract nominally satisfied that requirement through the Finance and Justice ministries’ direct signatures. The 2026 contract, however, was executed solely through the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs, with no documented involvement by the Finance Ministry or any evidence of competitive bidding
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