As children of God and stewards of the public trust, the Human Rights Monitor, in collaboration with our faith-based partners, has carefully listened to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA). While the President spoke of a “Nation on the Move,” we find it our moral obligation to declare that the feet of the Liberian people remain shackled by poverty, addiction, and administrative dishonesty.
That the Sin of False Witness: Jobs and School Feeding
In the scriptures, we are reminded that “a false witness will not go unpunished.” The President’s claim that this administration created 70,000 jobs in 2025 is a staggering departure from the truth. In our communities, we see fathers sitting idle and mothers struggling in the informal market; we do not see 70,000 new paychecks.
Similarly, the claim that the Unity Party government fed 235,000 school children is an illusion that mocks the hunger of our students. Reports from the interior suggest that if any feeding occurred, it was sporadic and insufficient. We challenge the government to provide a transparent, county-by-county audit of these claims.
The Economic Paradox: Lower Prices, Higher Hardship
The President touted a reduction in the price of rice and gasoline. While technically true, this “progress” is a ghost to the average citizen.
The Transport Burden: Despite lower fuel costs, transportation fares remain prohibitively high, as the government has failed to regulate the transport sector effectively.
The Poverty Trap: With unemployment at an all-time high, the price of rice, whether reduced or not, is irrelevant to a family with zero income. A Liberian who cannot find work cannot buy a 25 kg bag of rice to feed their children. Price reduction without job creation is a hollow victory.
“Monrovia is Not Liberia”: The Crisis of Water and Light
We must remind this administration that Monrovia is not Liberia. A significant percentage of our rural population still lacks the basic dignity of running water and electricity.
Health and Dignity: How can we speak of development when our sisters in the interior must walk miles for a bucket of water?
The Infrastructure Gap: The President’s promise to build 600 housing units across six counties in 2026 is, frankly, illusive. We need pipes in the ground and wires on the poles before we talk about new housing complexes that often only benefit the elite.
The Lost Generation: The Drug Epidemic
As a faith-based community, our hearts bleed for the thousands of young people falling victim to the drug epidemic. The President’s address was alarmingly silent on a concrete strategy to combat this “national suicide.” We are losing our youth to addiction while the government offers only rhetoric. We need rehabilitation centers and a relentless crackdown on the “big fish” importing these poisons, not just the “small boys” on the street.
Bureaucracy and the Cancer of Corruption
The proposal to establish a Planning Commission is a blatant waste of taxpayers’ money. The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) is already constitutionally mandated and funded to handle this. This is a redundant creation designed to create seats for political allies while the poor starve.
Furthermore, corruption must stop. It is the wall standing between the Liberian people and their prosperity. We cannot deliver our citizens from poverty while government officials continue to enrich themselves at the expense of the state.
A Moral Failure: Silence on Sexual Violence
Most distressingly, the President failed to address the horrific allegations of raping underage children by certain government officials. As a human rights and faith-based body, we find this silence deafening. Justice must not be a respecter of persons. If this government is to be a “Rescue” mission, it must start by rescuing our children from predators within its own ranks.
Conclusion: Liberians Must Build Liberia
The United States was not built by outsiders; it was built by the sweat and sacrifice of the American people. Likewise, Liberians will build Liberia. But we cannot build on a foundation of lies, drugs, and corruption.
We call on the President to move beyond the teleprompter and meet the people in their hunger and their hope. Let us put aside “illusive” projects and focus on the basics: Water, Power, Jobs, and Justice.
May God bless the works of our hands and save the State.