Photo of Benedict Kolubah Photo source: Benedict Kolubah
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Claim: Former Assistant Finance Minister Benedict Kolubah claims Unity Party could not move Liberia’s GDP up to 1 billion dollars from 2005 to 2017.
Verdict: False. Evidence shows that Liberia’s GDP exceeded $1 billion well before the end of the Unity Party’s administration in 2017.
Full Text
Benedict Kolubah, who once served as Assistant Finance Minister under the George Weah administration, has alleged that the Unity Party (UP) led government failed to raise Liberia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to $1 billion during its 12 years in power.
During a recent debate on OK FM, Benedict claimed the Weah administration increased the country’s GDP to $4 billion in just six years.
“The Unity Party could not move Liberia’s GDP to 1 billion dollars from 2005 to 2017. The CDC inherited a deteriorating economy from the Unity Party in 2017” Benedict said.
He argued that unlike the UP, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) turned over a stronger economy to President Joseph Boakai in 2023.
The economy remains a highly contested issue in Liberian politics, with both the ruling and opposition figures often citing statistics to portray themselves as better stewards of the country’s finances. This debate on OK FM between Benedict and Mo Ali of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation became another platform for competing narratives.
The video which was shared on the radio station’s Facebook page attracted thirty thousand views, one thousand five hundred comments, four hundred and eighty five reactions and one hundred and twenty six shares.
30,000 views, 1,500 comments, 485 reactions and 126 shares.
Verification
Our research shows that Liberia’s economy, starting from a low base of about $548.4 million in 2005, experienced steady growth. The country’s real GDP growth rate stood at 5.3% in that year, and between 2010 and 2013 Liberia saw a period of accelerated growth, driven largely by favourable global commodity prices.
This growth pushed the country’s GDP well past the $1 billion threshold before the end of the Unity Party’s tenure. In fact, by 2016, Liberia’s nominal GDP had already reached $2.101 billion, according to Central Bank of Liberia available data.
These figures make clear that the $1 billion mark was not only reached but surpassed significantly before 2017.
Conclusion
The claim made by Benedict Kolubah during the OK FM debate—specifically at 1:06 minutes into the three-hour broadcast—is misleading. Evidence shows that Liberia’s GDP exceeded $1 billion well before the end of the Unity Party’s administration in 2017.
