Liberia: 70,000 Jobs or 70,000 Questions?” LILGA Challenges Boakai’s Employment Claims

Monrovia — The Liberia Labour and Governance Alliance (LILGA) has raised serious concerns over President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s claim that his administration has created more than 70,000 jobs, demanding transparency and evidence to substantiate the figures cited in the President’s January 26 State of the Nation Address (SONA).

While acknowledging that job creation is critical to national development, LILGA said the President’s declaration fails to address the realities facing Liberian workers and does not align with legally recognized definitions of sustainable employment under Liberian law and international labour standards.

According to the Alliance, employment cannot be reduced to headline numbers alone but must reflect decent, secure, and productive work that guarantees fair wages, dignity, workplace safety, rights at work, and social protection.

LILGA noted that this standard is consistent with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, which calls for “full and productive employment and decent work for all,” as well as the principles of the International Labour Organization (ILO), of which Liberia is a founding member. The ILO defines decent work as employment that ensures adequate income, social protection, freedom of association, and equal opportunity.

The group warned that claims of mass job creation without clear evidence of job quality, contract security, wage levels, or social protection risk reducing employment to “meaningless statistics” rather than tangible improvements in livelihoods.

LILGA further cited Liberia’s Decent Work Act of 2015, the country’s principal private-sector labour law, which commits the state to promoting employment that allows workers to exercise their rights, access social protection, and participate in social dialogue. The Act is reinforced by Articles 8 and 18 of the Liberian Constitution, which guarantee equal opportunity for employment and equal pay for equal work.

“Without transparent reporting on written contracts, minimum wage compliance, workplace safety, and job sustainability, government statements amount to rhetoric that raises more questions than answers,” the Alliance stated in a statement issued by its Media and Communication Director and Executive Director George Sahr Tengbeh.

LILGA has therefore called on the Ministry of Labour, the planning and economic affairs component of the Ministry of Finance, the National Investment Commission, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) to publish disaggregated data supporting the job claims. The group is demanding sectoral breakdowns, formal versus informal classifications, wage levels, contractual terms, and geographic distribution.

The Alliance stressed that any genuine progress on employment must be verifiable, measurable, and consistent with Liberia’s legal obligations under the Decent Work Act and applicable ILO conventions.

“Until such evidence is produced and independently verified, the claim of ‘70,000 jobs’ risks being seen as political posturing rather than real progress for Liberian workers,” LILGA warned.

The organization reaffirmed its commitment to advocating for workers across Liberia, particularly young people, informal-sector workers, and the unemployed, and urged the government to engage in meaningful social dialogue and provide evidence-based, accountable reporting on employment outcomes.