The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL) has welcomed Liberia’s improved performance on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Scorecard, while urging government to address alarming declines on critical governance and service-delivery indicators.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, CENTAL praised the government for passing 12 out of 22 performance indicators, including the crucial Control of Corruption metric. Liberia also made significant strides in fiscal policy—for the first time since 200 alongside gains in inflation, land rights and access, rule of law, political rights, and access to credit.
“This is highly commendable,” CENTAL said, noting that improved institutional efforts have contributed to Liberia’s progress on several accountability-related assessments, including the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index and CENTAL’s own State of Corruption Report.
Progress Still Fragile
Despite acknowledging the positive results, CENTAL warned that Liberia’s corruption score slightly dropped from 59 in 2024 to 57 in 2025 a sign that continued vigilance is required to prevent backsliding.
The organization also flagged sharp reductions in other key indicators:
• Fiscal Policy: ↓ from 51 to 41
• Trade Policy: ↓ from 63 to 21
• Gender in the Economy: ↓ from 84 to 76
“These drops signify the need for more robust and concerted efforts by government actors,” the group asserted, adding that impunity for corruption remains a major concern.
10 MCC Indicators Failed
While celebrating the passed indicators, CENTAL noted that Liberia scored poorly in several critical areas including:
• Civil liberties
• Government effectiveness
• Primary education expenditure
• Business start-up
• Natural resource protection
• Regulatory policy
• Access to justice
• Girl’s primary completion rate
• Employment opportunities
• Child health
According to CENTAL, these failures threaten Liberia’s governance trajectory and public welfare.
Push for Accountability in Both Past and Current Governments
CENTAL welcomed recent indictments issued by the Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Taskforce against former officials of the previous government on charges ranging from economic sabotage to misuse of public funds. The group called for strong support to ensure full prosecution and recovery of stolen assets.
However, CENTAL also emphasized the need for fairness and impartiality, urging investigation into “suspicious activities” within the current administration including the controversial US$10 million presidential residence project in Foya, Lofa County.
“Greater transparency around the Foya project is essential to allay public suspicion and restore confidence in ongoing anti-corruption efforts,” the statement read.
CENTAL’s Call to Action
The anti-graft institution concluded by urging the government to:
• Strengthen and fund integrity and oversight institutions
• Apply justice without political favoritism
• Establish a specialized corruption court
• Continue audits across all branches of government
• Improve public access to information on state-funded projects
