By Patrick M’bayo
Stop Feeding Off the People: Free the Economy from Cartels and Political Allies. End the Monopoly Over Rice and Flour!
The Executive Mansion’s announcement that President Boakai has “reduced” the price of rice and flour is not evidence of sound economic leadership. It is proof that hardship in Liberia is orchestrated by the political elites, with the suffering of ordinary citizens treated as a bargaining chip. In a free market, no president should be fixing the prices of goods and services. Prices are determined by competition, efficiency, and fair trade; its market forces that determine prices in any free economic system. By stepping into the market as a price setter, the President has confirmed what many Liberians already know: our economy is not free, it is controlled by a small circle of political and business elites.
If the President were serious about protecting households, he would dismantle monopolies and duopolies in the rice and flour markets. He would direct the Ministry of Commerce and other regulatory agencies to open the economy, encourage competition, and break the cartel-like practices that suffocate trade. Price enforcement by presidential decree does not solve the structural problem of market capture. It only deepens it. The very business elites who bankroll politics are the ones reaping windfall profits, while Liberians continue to buy survival at inflated prices.
This is not a favor to the people. It is a cover for the exploitation of the people. When the government protects a monopoly, it protects corruption. When the government dictates prices instead of creating competitive conditions, it kills entrepreneurship and innovation. Liberia cannot continue to feed on its citizens’ suffering while a few families and political allies corner the markets. This has to stop. A real commitment to economic justice requires freeing the market, breaking oligopolies, and empowering ordinary Liberians to benefit from trade. Anything less is manipulation dressed up as generosity.
