Liberia is once again at a critical juncture. The shocking revelations of unauthorized expenditures amounting to over US$13.3 million in the FY 2024 budget are a stark reminder of the deep-rooted fiscal indiscipline that continues to plague our government. At a time when ordinary citizens struggle to afford basic necessities, when hospitals lack essential medicines, and when schools remain underfunded amid major aid cuts, it is both outrageous and unacceptable that government institutions—including the National Legislature—have brazenly overspent public funds without due process.
This reckless spending is an affront to the Liberian people. The same officials who lecture the nation on the need for austerity are the ones draining state coffers beyond approved limits. How does the National Legislature justify exceeding its budget by over US$4 million? What critical national interest was served by the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs, the Office of the Vice President, and other institutions that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars beyond their allocations? These are not just accounting errors—they are deliberate acts of financial mismanagement.
The now embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa, months ago, called for a revision of Liberia’s Public Financial Management (PFM) Law, acknowledging the systemic weaknesses in our budgetary process. His words ring hollow when his own institution, the National Legislature, emerges as the chief culprit in this fiscal chaos. The time for empty rhetoric is over. We demand immediate and enforceable measures to curb wasteful spending, hold violators accountable, and restore fiscal discipline.
The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning’s recent directives on budget discipline, including curbing excessive travel and allowances, are welcome but insufficient. Words on paper will not change a system entrenched in financial recklessness. We need strong enforcement mechanisms. We need an independent audit of all off-budget expenditures and real consequences for those who defy fiscal discipline.
This government cannot continue to operate with a mindset of unlimited resources when the reality is starkly different. The FY 2025 budget, though increased to US$880.7 million, still falls drastically short of the over US$2 billion in funding requests from spending entities. Yet, instead of prioritizing critical sectors like healthcare, education, and job creation, millions are squandered on non-essential spending.
Liberians are tired of being told to “tighten their belts” while those in power feast on public resources with impunity. We call on President Joseph Boakai to take decisive action in cutting government waste, strengthening oversight mechanisms, and ensuring that every dollar is spent in the interest of the people. The Ministry of Finance must cease being a rubber stamp for unapproved expenditures, and the Legislature must be held accountable for its own financial misconduct before pointing fingers elsewhere.
The Liberian people deserve better. The economic hardships they endure daily are not the result of lack of resources but rather the abuse and mismanagement of what little is available. It is time to end this cycle of fiscal indiscipline. Those responsible for overspending must be held to account, and moving forward, the government must put the interests of the people first, not those of a privileged few in power. Liberia’s future depends on it.
This is The Liberian Investigator in pursuit of truth and integrity.
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