–As Gov’t Payroll Hits $354 million over CDC 113.9 Million Under Weah
Former Liberian Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, under prosecution for corruption has accused the administration of President Joseph Boakai of concealing US$26 million within the national budget under a non-standard line item.
Tweah claimed that while the Boakai government reported a “Compensation of Employees” line of US$329 million, it hidden an additional US$26 million under a “Goods and Services” subcategory labeled “Other Compensation” (budget code 222123).
He alleged the total government wage bill has surged to US$354 million in the projected 2026 budget, an increase of over US$43 million since his own administration left power.
Tweah argued that under the previous CDC administration, this “Other Compensation” line never exceeded US$5 million and averaged below US$200,000 for several years.
He urged the Legislature to abolish the “Other Compensation” line during the 2026 midterm budget review and move all employee-related payments to the standard compensation codes.
These accusations occur as Tweah faces significant legal challenges of his own: Tweah and other former officials were indicted in mid-2024 for economic sabotage and theft of property, with the Supreme Court of Liberia continuing to hear arguments into late 2025 .
Upon his return to Liberia in September 2024, Tweah was granted an US$8 million bail bond while awaiting trial for alleged mismanagement of public funds.
Tweah has consistently dismissed the charges against him as a “politically motivated witch-hunt” by the current administration.
Meanwhile, Former Finance and Development Minister, Samuel Tweh, has revealed that the government of Liberia civil servants wage bill has now hit USD 354 Million from a previous usd$113.9 million under the government of former president Goerge Weah.
In a write out on social media, former Minister Tweh, accused the Unity Party of hiding $26 million in “Other Compensation “ which is a Goods and Services line under the budget, with budget code 222123.
Tweh argues that other Compensation should not be a salary line but, in the last two years of Rescue governance, has emerged as a major line.
He said that under CDC the line maxed at little over $5 million in 2023, netting over $2 million in 2022, and averaging bellow $200,000’ for years before 2022.
“The UP has now taken this as a major line to employ workers and hide the figure from the public, since public scrutiny is greater on the core Compensation line, which is reported at $329 million in the 2026 budget.
We argue today that Government should abolish this line and report all compensation under the 21 coding for Compensation of Employees and we call on the legislature to ensure this transparency is achieved in the mid-term review of 2026. Journalists are encouraged to monitor the line and press for this transparency.
With compensation now at $ 354 million, this means compensation has increased by more than $43 million since the CDC exited power. This demolishes all false claims by the CSA about reduction in the wage bill and all false promises made to the IMF under the IMF program.
The figures below also show which of the two parties has managed public wage better. The wage curve shows that when the UP is in power wage is rising but flattens when CDC governs. Three regions can be observed under the curve: Rising, under AFT UP, flattening, under Pro-Poor CDC and rising again under RESCUE UP.
The general public, but more narrowly, economic and business students should analyze these numbers to understand the structure and evolution of public wage in Liberia and assess how far the wage bill should grow without raising salary of Government workers, who continue to be shunned, though Government has now passed a budget of $1.2 billion. “ Samuel Tweh stated
The Ministry OF Finance Development Planning is yet to respond to IPNEWS inquiry over this accusation and details come later in our subsequent publication
