Former Education Minister George Kronnisanyon Werner has described the governance model of President Joseph Boakai administration as a failing model.
The former Education Minister argued that the current administration led by President Boaki, like its predecessors-is operating within a political system that is “failing to deliver development, accountability, or meaningful opportunity” for ordinary Liberians.
Werner asserted that the signs of systemic failure are visible “everywhere,” from weak institutions to stalled reforms and a state apparatus that consistently struggles to convert plans into real outcomes.
According to him, his assessment is rooted in Liberia’s historical foundations and contemporary governance, noting that despite a nation rich with talent, ideas, and ambition, its political architecture is not designed for performance.
“Our system cannot deliver the speed, coherence, discipline, or continuity required to close a 50–100-year development gap,” he asserted.
A Vision Betrayed
Werner traces Liberia’s chronic governance problems back to the founding of the Republic, where settler constitutional structures collided with long-standing Indigenous governance traditions.
Instead of merging these systems to build a unified and inclusive state, he argues, Liberia adopted a centralized model that excluded the majority and fractured national trust-an imbalance that continues to shape today’s political culture.
He intimated that once a continental trailblazer, Liberia contributed to the formation of the African Union, ECOWAS, and the African Development Bank.
For Werner, the nation’s current stagnation represents a stark departure from the institutional imagination it once displayed.
A System Built on Patronage, Not Performance
Citing repeated findings from the General Auditing Commission (GAC), PEFA assessments, Afrobarometer surveys, and international financial institutions, Werner describes a governance system weakened by legislative overreach, opaque spending, a politically vulnerable judiciary, and an “imperial presidency” with more than 4,000 political appointments.
Such a structure, he argues, entrenches patronage and undermines policy continuity.
“The result is predictable. Reform depends more on personalities than institutions; political loyalty outweighs competence; and the state struggles to deliver basic services or long-term transformation,” he cautions.
Werner contrasts Liberia with reform-driven nations such as Vietnam and Rwanda, which rebuilt effective bureaucracies, created performance-driven systems, and aligned education with economic development.
While acknowledging that no country is perfect, he emphasizes that these nations deliver results because their governance models are designed to demand results.
A Call for a New Liberian Model
Liberia’s path forward, Werner argues, requires not imitation but redesign, while also calling for a governance framework that preserves democratic freedoms while enforcing performance, coherence, and continuity.
Werner, among other things noted that priorities include professionalizing the civil service, strengthening oversight institutions, improving national data systems, establishing long-term human-capital missions, and creating delivery units to bridge entrenched bureaucratic silos.
“Liberia cannot build tomorrow’s prosperity on a governance architecture designed for yesterday’s purposes,” Werner insists.
Werner concludes with both warning and hope. Without systemic governance reform, he argues, development will remain a recurring promise rather than a lived reality.
Yet he believes Liberia can craft a governance model worthy of its founding vision, Indigenous political heritage, and historical leadership role in Africa.
His critique adds fuel to an intensifying national debate over why Liberia continues to underperform-and what kind of political system is needed to secure the future its people deserve.
