IPNEWS: Transparency watchdog CENTAL says President Joseph Nyumah Boakai’s new management structure for the government’s “Yellow Machines” road project is expanding the size and cost of government, warning that the creation of additional boards, committees and minister-level appointments risks widening Liberia’s public wage bill at a time of limited national resources.
“It is cost-intensive to continue expanding the government when resources are meager,” CENTAL Executive Director Anderson Miamen said, urging the administration to strengthen existing institutions instead of creating new layers of authority around the project.
The criticism comes as Boakai’s “Yellow Machines” rollout, launched after Liberia received the first shipment of earth-moving equipment procured from China, shifts significant operational control away from the Ministry of Public Works and into a newly created presidential structure that includes a board of authority and an implementing committee with minister-level compensation and additional staffing.
A new structure, new appointments
After the first batch of equipment arrived from China, Boakai established a dedicated framework to oversee acquisition, deployment and management of the machines, an approach that has triggered debate over duplication, political accommodation and the long-term cost of maintaining an expanded management apparatus.
At the center of the new arrangement is Brownie J. Samukai, the former defense minister, who has been appointed Executive Chairperson and National Coordinator of the Special Presidential Coordinating Committee, responsible for implementing the program. Samukai has confirmed he will receive a salary equivalent to a Cabinet minister, a detail critics cite as evidence the initiative is enlarging the wage bill through new political and administrative appointments.
Governance observers say the structure also raises institutional concerns because it narrows Public Works’ role largely to road design and cost estimates, while shifting decision-making and equipment deployment to a presidential committee.
Procurement savings, but operating costs rising
Supporters of the project point to procurement savings as proof the new approach delivered value. Samukai said an initial proposal from a South African supplier would have cost about US$80 million, but the Boakai administration, after placing the process under Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, negotiated directly with Chinese manufacturers and brought the price down to US$22 million, including spare parts and seven months of technical support from Chinese experts.
The procurement reduction has been widely promoted by officials as a financial win. But critics and civil society groups say the debate is now shifting to the continuing operational and administrative costs of running the fleet and the new governance structure built around it.
Samukai said the board has already approved more than US$900,000 for the first 90 days of operations, including spare parts and delivery-related costs. In addition, each of Liberia’s 15 counties is expected to host a hub for the machines. Samukai said estimated hub construction costs range from about US$498,000 to US$700,000, depending on whether residential quarters are included, adding that even a basic hub would cost more than US$400,000.
If hubs are constructed nationwide, the bill could run into several million dollars before factoring in salaries, fuel, maintenance and administrative expenses. The program also plans to recruit 1,342 trained operators across the counties. Samukai said the operators will undergo orientation programs, even if previously trained — a step that would further expand operational costs.
Miamen: strengthen institutions, avoid new layers
Miamen said the creation of a minister-level coordinating position, along with a committee and auxiliary staff, reflects an expansion of government when the country should be tightening and rationalizing public spending.
He argued the administration could have constituted an interagency team drawn from existing ministries and agencies to manage the equipment, thereby reducing new salary obligations and avoiding institutional duplication.
“That would have minimized additional salary burdens and avoided duplication,” he said.
Miamen also pointed to Samukai’s past indictment over allegations involving savings for members of the Armed Forces of Liberia, saying the appointment is controversial to some Liberians and risks undermining public confidence. Samukai, a longtime public official, has said he accepted the role as an act of national service, but critics argue the optics of placing him in charge of a major public asset program remain politically sensitive.
A parallel authority over road equipment
Under Boakai’s setup, the Yellow Machines Board of Authority serves as a supervisory body. It is chaired by Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Samuel Stevequoah and includes the ministers of Finance, Public Works, Internal Affairs and Defense, the director-general of the General Services Agency, and Samukai as secretary.
Below the board sits the implementing arm, the Special Presidential Coordinating Committee, headed by Samukai and supported by three deputies, for technical services, operations, and administration, as well as an assistant coordinator for policy and general services and additional recruited staff.
Critics say the model functions like a parallel operational authority over a core Public Works responsibility, with Public Works reduced to design and cost estimation while deployment and control sit with the presidential committee.
Questions over legal mandate and overlapping roles
The arrangement has also revived questions about statutory mandates. The Ministry of Public Works is the government’s primary institution for building and maintaining roads. Some commentators argue that the ministry’s mandate is being diluted by moving machinery control to a presidential committee.
The inclusion of the General Services Agency, created to manage government assets, has fueled further debate over overlapping responsibilities and whether the system creates multiple centers of authority for the same functions.
Under the current structure, Public Works designs roads and prepares cost estimates; the board approves projects; and the coordinating committee deploys and manages the equipment.
Supporters cite urgent road needs
Supporters of the program argue the country’s road crisis requires extraordinary measures, particularly in agricultural counties where feeder roads remain impassable for long stretches of the rainy season. They say improving rural connectivity is essential for moving farm produce, lowering transport costs and supporting broader economic activity.
The fleet totals 285 machines, officials say. So far, 137 yellow machines and 20 white pickups have arrived and are being temporarily housed at military barracks in Careysburg. The remainder is expected before the end of March pending maritime clearance. Each county is expected to receive at least 15 machines, with Bong, Lofa, Nimba and Grand Bassa slated for 30 pieces each.
