Published: April 15, 2026
MONROVIA — Liberia’s 55th National Legislature is publishing just 8 percent of its official documents on government platforms, relying instead on social media to disseminate more than 85 percent of legislative information, according to a first-quarter monitoring report that also found persistent quorum violations, chronic late sittings and the intimidation of a female lawmaker during plenary.
The report, released Monday by the Legislative Monitoring Coalition of Liberia, a body of 13 civil society and media organizations, draws on direct observation of 39 plenary sessions across both the House of Representatives and the Senate between January and March 2026.
The findings present a legislature making incremental gains on some fronts while failing on the institutional fundamentals that underpin public trust and democratic governance.
Transparency in Name, Not in Practice
Theophilus Jipply, director of programs at the Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding, said the coalition tracked four core democratic indicators — transparency, accountability, participation and inclusion — against the Legislature’s constitutional mandates.
On access, the picture was encouraging. All 39 plenary sessions were open to civil society, media and the public, a sharp turnaround from a 13 percent exclusion rate recorded in the previous quarter. Agendas were distributed in hard copy and through official social media channels, and unjustified deviations from published agendas fell from 38 percent of sessions in February to zero in March.
But the 8 percent document publication rate cut against those gains, raising questions about whether openness during sessions means much when the underlying legislative record remains largely inaccessible through official channels.
Attendance Below 50%, Women Left Out
The coalition documented inconsistent attendance in the House of Representatives, with some sessions falling below 50 percent, a threshold that raises direct concerns about the legitimacy of decisions taken when so few members are present.
Legislation affecting women, youth, minorities and social protection was found to be consistently underrepresented in the legislative calendar. Committee meetings, where much of the substantive work of lawmaking occurs, remain closed to civil society and media observers.
LEMCOL also documented an incident of intimidation involving a female lawmaker during plenary, and warned against the passage of bills without adequate deliberation or public hearings.
The Senate’s Punctuality Problem
In the Senate, the report identified a pattern of sessions starting late, in violation of Standing Rules Article V, Section 5.1. The coalition described the trend as a systemic breach of institutional discipline with direct consequences for public confidence in the Legislature.
Direct Demands on Koon, Karnga-Lawrence
LEMCOL directed specific recommendations at House Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon and Senate Pro-Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence.
The coalition called on Senate leadership to enforce punctuality and introduce penalties for late sittings. It urged the House to require written quorum certification before sessions are called to order and to automatically adjourn any sitting that lacks quorum.
On transparency, LEMCOL called on the Legislature’s ICT and communications department to publish all bills, reports and official communications on the official website within 48 hours.
The coalition also urged both chambers to adopt a thematic legislative calendar with dedicated periods for social policy bills, publish monthly attendance records for all members, establish accountability mechanisms for habitual absenteeism and require quarterly committee reports on gender and youth legislation.
On committee secrecy, LEMCOL argued that deliberations should be open to public observation except in matters of national security, saying that closed-door committee work undermines the accountability the institution is constitutionally required to provide.
“House and Senate leadership should prevent intimidation of women lawmakers, who are already in the minority, especially during plenary sessions,” the recommendations stated, adding that lawmakers should allow adequate time for research, quality public hearings and cost-benefit analysis before passing bills.
Progress Acknowledged, Urgency Stressed
LEMCOL Coordinator Joseph Cheayan acknowledged the Legislature’s areas of improvement, including better public access, the elimination of unjustified agenda deviations in March and increased participation and bill sponsorship by female lawmakers.
But he was clear that the gains do not offset what remains unresolved.
“The introduction of four landmark anti-corruption reform bills by the executive further underscores the high expectations placed on this Legislature to uphold democratic governance in Liberia,” Cheayan said, framing the findings against a broader political moment in which public demand for accountability is running high.
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