Why Democracy is Dying in Liberia – And the Youth Are Helping to Bury It…

Monrovia—Liberia is sliding toward a dangerous political decline not because democracy has no value, but because those entrusted to protect it have weaponized it for personal gain. At every election cycle, young people, who make up 63% of Liberia’s population, stand in long voting lines full of hope, sacrifice, and expectation. Yet, once the ballots are counted and the power is secured, the very leaders who benefited from the youth’s votes forget them entirely.

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By Dennis Kromah-National Activist

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Year after year, budget allocations reveal a stark truth: the suffering of the majority is being used to fund the comfort of a privileged few. The youth, who should be at the center of national development, have instead become the fuel of a broken political machine used as campaign foot soldiers, but abandoned after elections to unemployment, illiteracy, and hopelessness.

A System Built to Benefit the Powerful

The 2026 Draft National Budget is a poignant testament to national priorities gone awry. While millions of young Liberians struggle without jobs, training, or basic support, the country’s elected officials and top executive leadership are allocated staggering amounts in salaries, entertainment, travel, fuel, and political projects.

Consider the following realities:

• The combined salaries of 103 lawmakers are 31.4% higher than the entire budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
• Speaker Richard Koon’s entertainment budget is 2,170% more than what the largest vocational institution in Liberia (MVTC) received.
• The Legislature allocated 127.6% more for itself in meetings and hearings than for National Youth Empowerment for the whole country.
• The Vice President’s local travel allowance is almost three times what the National Cadet Training Program received.
• The President’s Special Project budgets alone are 11,098% more than what Youth-on-the-Job Training, Youth Agricultural Centers, and At-Risk Youth support programs received combined.

This is not budgeting.

This is organized neglect.

The message is clear: The comfort of politicians matters more than the future of the nation.

The Youth Are Not a Priority

The Ministry of Youth and Sports, responsible for shaping the leaders, workers, and entrepreneurs of tomorrow, received just US$8.7 million less than what lawmakers enjoy for fuel, entertainment, and committee meetings.

Look at what was budgeted specifically:

• Youth-on-the-Job Training: US$2,000
• Youth Agricultural Training: US$8,008
• National Service Program: US$0

• At-Risk Youth Rehabilitation: US$0
• Coastal Sanitation/Youth Employment Projects: US$0

How can a country talk about job creation, empowerment, development, or national pride when it is unwilling to invest even the bare minimum in its youth?

Democracy in Liberia Has Become a Business…

We cannot continue pretending that Liberia’s democratic system is functioning. It is not. It has become a cash-reward system, where power is gained by votes but wealth is gained by extracting all possible benefits once in office. The youth vote politicians into power, but those same politicians then use the national budget to enrich themselves while the people struggle to survive. Liberians today face poverty not because there are no opportunities, but because:

• Greed has replaced service.
• Corruption has replaced leadership.
• Self-interest has replaced national interest.

The suffering in Liberia is not natural, it is man-made. And it is being manufactured at the highest levels of government.

Margibi County: A Local Example of National Failure… Let us narrow this down to Margibi County our home.

In Margibi, we vote overwhelmingly for leaders every election. Young people march, campaign, chant, defend, and sacrifice. But what do we gain in return? Nothing. There is:

• No substantial youth empowerment program.
• No functioning computer training facilities for the youth. Knowing that ICT is the order of today.
• No job creation strategy for young people.
• No county-funded youth development initiative we can point to with pride.

Instead, we have leaders who enter office poor and come out wealthy, while youth remain trapped in the same cycle:

• No jobs.
• No training.
• No opportunities.
• No future.

In Margibi, we are guilty of electing our own suffering. We cannot complain about poor representation while repeatedly rewarding the same leadership behavior at the polls. Democracy will continue to die if we continue voting based on tribe, party color, slogans, food distributions, or temporary election handouts.

The Youth Must Decide if They Are to change things in the upcoming elections or else, it be too late. Liberian youth cannot continue being:

• campaign mobilizers,
• bodyguards,
• battle-cry cheerleaders,

protest crowds… while others enjoy the power, positions, salaries, and budgets that their efforts made possible.

Young people must be mobilized not as foot soldiers but as:

• entrepreneurs,
• innovators,
• leaders,
• creators of wealth,
• builders of communities.

But none of this will happen until the youth themselves demand accountability, reject meaningless political manipulation, and vote based on development not emotion.

A New Generation Must Rise

Democracy is dying in Liberia not because the system is flawed, but because those who benefit from the system have no incentive to fix it. And as long as young people continue to protect the political order that exploits them, nothing will change.

A new Liberia will never be built by speeches, promises, or party slogans. It will be built when:

• Youth stop trading our future for campaign T-shirts and transportation money.
• Communities demand budgets that reflect human development, not political luxury.
• Leaders are elected based on performance, not popularity.

Liberia deserves better. Young people deserve better. Margibi deserves better. If the youth do not stand up now, another generation will be condemned to poverty created by a few powerful elites.

The clock is ticking.

Democracy in Liberia is fading and only the youth can bring it back to life.

About the Author

Dennis Kromah is a dedicated national activist, ICT trainer, and educator with a strong commitment to social accountability, youth empowerment, and community development in Liberia. He serves as the Executive Director of YARD-Liberia, Inc., where he leads initiatives that strengthen civic engagement, digital literacy, and leadership growth among young people across the country.