Monrovia — Former Liberian Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel D. Tweah has welcomed the Government of Liberia’s (GoL) ‘admission’ that errors were made in President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA), but insists that the subsequent correction still contains serious inaccuracies, particularly regarding claims about road construction.
By J.H. Webster Clayeh, [email protected]
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, Mr. Tweah described the government’s clarification as inadequate, arguing that the revised explanation continues to suggest that the Boakai-led Administration constructed approximately 1,430 kilometers of roads within two years—an assertion he described as impossible.
“We welcome the Government’s admission that it erred on the road pavement ratio reported by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in his 2026 SONA. But this is ‘thanks but no thanks’ since the ‘correction’ still has the same error and needs to be corrected,” Mr. Tweah wrote.
“The English the President read implies the Rescue Government built about 1,430 km of roads—an impossibility.”
Background to the Controversy
The government’s clarification followed Mr. Tweah’s public criticism of President Boakai’s SONA, in which the President claimed significant progress in road infrastructure within two years of assuming office.
During the address, President Boakai stated: “We increased Liberia’s paved roads from under 12 percent to at least 20 percent and maintained more than 780 kilometers of roads.”
Mr. Tweah argued that this statement, when compared with historical data, suggests that the current administration has outperformed both former President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf and former President George Manneh Weah combined—an assertion he says does not align with documented figures.
Tweah’s Breakdown of Road Data
According to Mr. Tweah, road pavement under President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf stood at approximately 5.7 percent, translating to about 745 kilometers of paved or maintained roads. He said former President Weah added 3.4 percent, equivalent to roughly 450 kilometers, bringing Liberia’s total paved road network to approximately 1,119 kilometers by December 2023.
“Mr. President, are your people telling you that your Government added 11 percent to this 9 percent pavement number?” Mr. Tweah asked.
“This means they are telling you your Government paved more than 1,430 kilometers of roads—about 11 percent of Liberia’s 13,000 kilometers of roads. Or did they get confused by the numbers and report this non-truth to you?”
Government Responds
Addressing the issue during the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, Information Minister Jerolinmick Matthew Piah described the disputed figures in the President’s SONA as a “clerical mistake.” He pointed to specific portions of the address that, according to him, contained inaccurate data.
However, Mr. Tweah maintains that the ministry’s press release failed to resolve the core issue.
“The press release purported to correct the misinformation retains the same error,” he said.
Call for Honesty in Public Discourse
Responding to suggestions that the government should have acknowledged him for identifying the error, Mr. Tweah said recognition was not his concern.
“I don’t need credit; just honesty in public discourse,” he stated.
Mr. Tweah further argued that the misstatement was driven by pressure on the Rescue Government to match governance achievements recorded under the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) Administration.
“Honesty is required to move our country forward,” he stated.
“We look forward to admission to other errors, including the false claim about creating 70,000 jobs. The numbers are clear—the Rescue UP is struggling to match the governance numbers and milieu engendered by the CDC,” he added.
