Claim: A former representative candidate asserts that the legislature received more money in the budget than all of the security apparatus bills added together.
Verdict: Misleading. The legislature has about $51 million in the 2026 budget, while the country’s entire security apparatus’ budget is at $154,930,763.
Full Text
Amid the dispute over land along the Liberia-Guinea border, Senator Amara Konneh has called for increased budgetary allocations for the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL). According to the Gbarpolu County senator, the Liberian army is incapable of protecting its borders against Guinea’s forces.
Speaking on a late-night radio panel discussion about the senator’s call, a political pundit, Fubbi Henries, said the Liberian military is under-supported, claiming that the national legislature receives more budgetary support than the military.
The defeated representative aspirant said, “The legislature makes more money in the budget than all of the security apparatus added together.”
Henries can be heard from 1:29:00 to 1:29:09.
Given the national security nature of the claim made, DUBAWA verified the information.
Verification
DUBAWA reviewed Liberia’s 2026 national budget and found some contradictions in Fubbi Henries’ assertion.
While he is correct that the national legislature has more budgetary allocations than the AFL, the legislature’s budget is not bigger than that of all the security apparatus’s budgets combined.
In this fiscal year, the national legislature has about $53,710,390, as shown on page cxxix of the budget. The specific budget line is marked red.
Screenshot of page cxxix
The entire budget for the security sector, on the other hand, is about $154,930,763, as shown on page cxxx. The specific area is underlined red.
Screenshot of page cxxx
Conclusion
Therefore, Fubbi Henries’ claim that the legislature has more money in the 2026 budget than all the security apparatus bills combined is misleading.