Monrovia — The Ministry of Finance and Growth Planning’s (MFDP) surprising publication of what it described as an authorized Fiscal Yr 2026 Nationwide Finances has sparked public debate and political scrutiny, amid the absence of any formal announcement from the Government Mansion confirming that President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has signed the spending plan into regulation.
By Emmanuel Weedee-Conway and Gerald C. Koinyeneh
The FY2026 nationwide funds—totaling US$1,248,728,191.15—was handed by the fifty fifth Legislature in December 2025 and subsequently forwarded to the President for motion, both to be signed into regulation or returned to the Legislature with objections, as offered for beneath the Structure. Because the funds was transmitted to the President, nevertheless, there was no official communication from the Government Mansion indicating that it has been signed.
Notably, President Boakai didn’t announce the signing of the funds throughout his Annual Message to the Legislature, generally known as the State of the Nation Handle (SONA), regardless of referencing the funds’s passage and dimension.
“Final yr, we submitted, and also you authorized a funds of greater than US$1.2 billion for FY2026, representing the best funds within the historical past of our nation,” President Boakai instructed lawmakers. He attributed current fiscal beneficial properties to improved coverage decisions, digitalization, and stronger compliance, and disclosed that the federal government was making ready to submit a supplementary funds.
“On account of the sturdy income efficiency for 2025, the fiscal authorities are concluding processes that may result in the submission of a supplemental funds to the Legislature subsequent month—the primary in a few years,” the President stated.
Conflicting Indicators
The uncertainty deepened per week later when Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan announced that the federal government meant to submit a supplementary funds in February, whereas clarifying that the FY2025 funds stays the operative fiscal framework, regardless of the Legislature’s passage of the FY2026 funds.
Talking on the opening of a three-day FY2026 Finances Execution Workshop, Ngafuan emphasised urgency, transparency, and accountability in public spending.
“It’s been a very long time since a supplementary funds was submitted to the Legislature. However we’re nonetheless executing the 2025 funds,” Ngafuan stated, urging ministries and businesses to speed up execution forward of the March deadline.
“We have now 90 days as much as the tip of March. A few of you continue to should execute in order that the March deadline doesn’t catch you off guard. As a result of at that time, the Comptroller, the Auditor Common, and their groups will come and draw a tough line on us,” he warned.
Ngafuan’s remarks intensified hypothesis over the authorized standing of the FY2026 funds, notably whether or not it had been signed into regulation and brought impact.
Lawmakers within the Darkish
Because the Minister’s assertion, FrontPage Africa has made inquiries to the Government Department and the Legislature searching for clarification, however acquired no official response. A number of lawmakers privately acknowledged that they’d not been formally knowledgeable by Home management that the President had signed the funds.
Former Speaker of the Home of Representatives, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, instructed FrontPage Africa that he had not acquired any signed copy of the funds.
“As to the info about whether or not the President has signed or not, I’ve not acquired a signed copy in my workplace, so I can solely assume it has not been signed,” Koffa stated.
MFDP Publishes ‘Authorized’ Finances
Regardless of the uncertainty, the MFDP late Sunday night started sharing what it described as an authorized FY2026 funds on its web site. When contacted, a senior ministry official, talking on situation of anonymity, claimed that President Boakai signed the funds on December 22, 2025, and that it took impact on January 1, 2026.
That assertion has raised additional questions: Why was there no public announcement from the Government Mansion? Why was the Legislature not formally notified? And why was the signed instrument neither printed nor circulated to lawmakers earlier than being printed on-line?
Public response rapidly adopted on social media.
“Did the President signal the funds?” requested Abenego F. Russell.
Lieata Pa added: “We didn’t hear any information that the President signed. Effectively…”
Silence From the Government Mansion
Historically, as soon as a nationwide funds is signed into regulation, the Government Mansion publishes the instrument on its official web site and Fb web page as a part of Liberia’s Open Finances Initiative beneath the Public Monetary Administration (PFM) Regulation, geared toward selling transparency and accountability.
On this case, nevertheless, neither the Government Mansion’s web site nor its official social media platforms has carried any announcement or documentation confirming presidential assent to the FY2026 funds.
Even throughout his detailed SONA presentation—the place he mentioned income efficiency, fiscal reforms, and expenditure tendencies—the President didn’t explicitly state that the FY2026 funds had been signed into regulation, an omission that has fueled hypothesis amongst lawmakers and the general public.
What’s within the Finances
For FY2025, the federal government authorized a nationwide funds of US$880.5 million, largely financed by US$804.6 million in home income. By year-end, whole income reportedly reached US$885.8 million, exceeding projections by US$5.1 million. Home income alone hit US$847.7 million, surpassing estimates by US$43.1 million—the best in Liberia’s historical past.
Home income elevated by US$148 million over 2024, marking the biggest single-year acquire on report. Over the previous two years, home income has grown by US$235.7 million, beneficial properties the President attributed to administrative reforms, improved compliance, and digital techniques, together with the institution of a contemporary customs inspection heart on the Freeport of Monrovia.
Unanswered Questions
Regardless of these fiscal beneficial properties, uncertainty surrounding the FY2026 funds stays. Conflicting accounts persist, with one model suggesting the instrument stays inside the Government Mansion, whereas one other claims it was returned to the Legislature.
Till the Government Mansion formally confirms the President’s motion on the funds, questions over its authorized standing—and the federal government’s spending authority—are more likely to linger.
In the meantime, critics say the dearth of transparency surrounding the President’s motion on the funds may breed confusion, evoking reminiscences of the 2024 nationwide funds saga that was marred by claims and counterclaims of tampering.
In 2024, the alleged alteration (“fingering”) of the Liberian nationwide funds grew to become a significant scandal, with accusations pointing in direction of a collaboration between officers within the Government Department – particularly the Ministry of Finance and Growth Planning, and the management of the fifty fifth Legislature.
The Legislature handed the funds and transmitted it to the President for approval; he signed it into regulation. Nevertheless, a number of lawmakers later protested, alleging that the model signed by the President was not the identical doc handed by the Legislature, however one which had been altered.
The Allegation
The authorized 2024 funds of US$738.8 million was reportedly altered after its passage in April 2024, with discrepancies of round US$20 million (a 6.7% increment) famous within the printed model.
Some lawmakers accused the Ministry of Finance & Growth Planning of altering the doc earlier than printing. The ministry denied the allegation.
Senators and representatives, together with Senator Nathaniel Farlo McGill and Consultant Musa Hassan Bility, accused the Executive. On the similar time, some proof pointed to unauthorized actions by officers in each the Home and Senate.
Investigative findings confirmed {that a} movement concerning oversight was improperly altered to redirect reporting from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to the Legislative Finances Workplace (LBO), and that the unique doc was improperly recalled from the Government by the Deputy Chief Clerk.
Though a specialised committee confirmed the unauthorized alterations, the Home of Representatives didn’t impose sanctions, resulting in frustration over the dearth of accountability.
