MONROVIA -Social advocate and Baptized Deacon, P. Oxford Brown, who is also the Communications Director at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, is calling on President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to urgently establish a National Price Stabilization Task Force, warning that the government’s recent price cuts on rice, flour and fuel are being sabotaged by a lack of enforcement at the retail level.
By Christopher C.Walker [email protected]
In a strongly-worded press statement released Monday February 2,2026, Brown argued that while the Executive Mansion has moved to reduce wholesale costs, the “trickle-down” effect has failed to reach the average Liberian.
He described the current economic hardship as no longer a policy problem, but one of “implementation, enforcement, and trust.”
Brown’s primary recommendation is the immediate formation of a high-level task force designed to break the “cartel behavior” currently stifling the local economy.
He proposed that the body include the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), the Ministry of Transport, the LPRC, the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA). “The government has acted, but the people are not feeling the relief,” Brown said. “We need a body mandated to monitor market prices daily, publish official reference prices for essential commodities, and investigate price gouging and cartel behavior nationwide.”
The call for a task force comes in the wake of President Boakai’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), where it was announced that a 25kg bag of rice should retail for US$14.50 and flour for US$35 per 100lb bag.
Despite these official figures, Brown highlighted a stark reality on the ground. He noted that “small market cups” of rice the primary way low-income families purchase the staple remain prohibitively expensive.
“Liberia’s economic recovery cannot be achieved when relief granted by the government is blocked before it reaches the ordinary citizen,” Brown asserted. “The suffering of the people must not become a profit opportunity for a few.”
The advocate further detailed how the lack of enforcement is affecting other critical sectors:
Transport: Fares for taxis, kekehs, and motorbikes remain stagnant despite reductions in fuel price ceilings, placing an undue burden on workers and students.
Bakery Goods: Despite the drop in flour prices, the cost of bread and local pastries remains high, impacting low-income households and school-aged children.
Local Goods: Commodities like cassava, pepper, and charcoal are becoming unaffordable, which Brown attributed to high transport costs and exploitation by middlemen.
Brown appealed to the “national conscience” of business owners and transport unions.
He urged regulatory institutions to strengthen market surveillance and protect small-scale traders from harassment while applying the full weight of the law against major violators. “Liberians deserve relief—not excuses,” Brown declared. “Put Liberia first. For fair prices and fair living.”
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