-Under Boakai-Koung Administration
MONROVIA — The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has warned that Liberia is drifting toward a “Mogadishu moment” — a term the opposition party uses to describe accelerating state decline, institutional collapse, and the return of living conditions reminiscent of the country’s civil war years.
During a press conferenceon Thursday, May 14, 2026, ahead of its annual Militant Month observance in June, the CDC accused the administration of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and Vice President Jeremiah Koung of presiding over economic misery, political persecution, and the systematic erosion of constitutional governance.
“The hand of President Boakai is not guiding the nation, but drawing it toward anarchy and the slow collapse of the state,” the CDC declared. “In the streets, the people feel a familiar despair: economic misery is tightening its grip, pressing the nation backward into the dark likeness of war-year conditions, when hunger was law and hope a forgotten tongue.”
The CDC explicitly invoked Mogadishu, the Somali capital that became a global symbol of state collapse, as a cautionary analogy. “When the CDC warns that Liberia is inching toward a ‘Mogadishu moment,’ we are invoking a powerful historical lesson,” the statement read. “Mogadishu became a global symbol of state collapse: a situation marked by intensified political divisions, the loss of institutional legitimacy, deteriorating security, and ordinary citizens enduring prolonged instability and hardship.”
The party clarified that it is not predicting Liberia will become Somalia, but warned that “any country can face severe instability when constitutional safeguards are weakened, political disputes overwhelm institutions, and citizens lose confidence in the state’s ability to govern fairly and effectively.”
The CDC pointed to rising food and transportation prices and declining purchasing power as clear indicators of national regression. A particularly striking symbol cited in the statement was the growing reliance on “big bag” untreated water — drawn from wells, packaged in ordinary plastic bags under unsanitary conditions, and sold as drinking water.
The party contrasted this with commercially produced purified sachet water, noting that the resurgence of “big bag” water recalls the difficult conditions of Liberia’s war years. “The fact that even this unsafe water has become more expensive under Joseph Boakai’s Mohammed Ali’s Water and Sewer Corporation demonstrates how deeply economic hardship has penetrated the daily life of ordinary Liberians,” the statement said. “This is not a story of rescue. It is a story of regression.”
The CDC also leveled serious accusations against the Boakai-Koung administration, alleging a sustained campaign of political persecution against former officials of the previous government led by George Manneh Weah. The party claimed that the Unity Party attempted to bribe jurors with approximately $275,000 — funds allegedly linked to Amos Tweh, Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) and Secretary General of the ruling Unity Party — in an effort to secure convictions against former CDC officials.
“Jurors rejected UP’s campaign of lies based on the diligent work of the defense team,” the CDC said. “Following this defeat, we have received information that the regime has ordered its surrogates to harm such patriots who served as jurors, as a lesson to future jurors to convict former CDC officials.”
The party noted hurried new indictments against former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr., former Acting Minister of Justice Nyenati Tuan, former National Security Advisor Jefferson Karmoh, former Financial Intelligence Agency head Stanley S. Ford, former Commerce Minister Mawine Diggs, and former Deputy Minister for Fiscal Affairs Samora P. Z. Wolokollie. The CDC also alleged plans to use “jungle justice” against former Chief of Protocol Amb. Nora Finda Bundoo.
In response to the new indictments, the CDC declared it would adopt a “non-compliance posture to prevent the Boakai-Koung regime from degenerating the nation into bloody warfare.” The opposition party claimed it had repeatedly warned of the current trajectory since the early days of the Boakai-Koung administration, citing disregard for constitutional norms, attacks on tenure protections, political intolerance, disrespect for the Supreme Court, and the politicization of public institutions.
Specific allegations included:
· Heavy-handed responses by the Liberia National Police under Inspector General Gregory Coleman and the national security apparatus led by National Security Advisor Samuel Kofi “Owusu” Woods, which the CDC said has turned Liberia into a “narcotic state” where police have become “a state-sanctioned militia” operating torture chambers.
· The attempted assassination of Hon. Frank Saah Foko, Representative of District 9, Montserrado County, on March 31, 2026, under the direct authority of the police inspector general — an incident the CDC said has gone uninvestigated despite numerous complaints.
· The “legislative coup d’état” against former Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and the illegal expulsion of Rep. Yekeh Kolubah, which the CDC said reflects a broader willingness to use political power in ways that threaten national stability.
· Unresolved tensions along the Liberia-Guinea border requiring sober and competent leadership.
Militant Month in Zwedru: A Call to Action
Despite the grim assessment, the CDC announced preparations for its annual Militant Month observance, scheduled for June 23–27, 2026, in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. The event will commemorate the party’s founding anniversary on May 27 and celebrate 22 years of the movement.
The party established two organizing bodies: a Central Planning Committee and a Grand Gedeh County Subcommittee. Senator Gbleh-bo Brown chairs the Central Committee, while Sampson Bossoe Williams leads the Subcommittee.
“Let Zwedru stand not merely as a destination, but as a symbol of renewal, unity, and commitment,” the CDC said. “Let it become the ground upon which purpose is rekindled and resolve restored.”
Immediately after the Zwedru celebration, the party announced plans to begin preparations for an extraordinary national convention “to recalibrate the Party onto an irreversible, redemptive trajectory in our march toward the final victory of our people.”
The CDC urged the Boakai-Koung regime to reconsider its course, restore public confidence in national institutions, and devote itself earnestly to improving the material conditions of Liberians.
The party also called upon civil society, religious leaders, youth and women’s organizations, and Liberia’s international partners to remain vigilant and engaged in the face of mounting pressures confronting the nation.
