Fellow Liberians, please pay keen attention. Please go through all the attachments.
A) This is the salary for only 103 lawmakers in the World’s 8th poorest country:
House of Representatives:
1) Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon:
FY2027 Draft: US$257,040
FY2026 Approved: US$245,540
Increment: US$11,500 (4.7% increase)
2) Deputy Speaker Thomas Fallah:
FY2027 Draft: US$204,992
FY2026 Approved: US$208,940
Decrease: -US$3,948 (-1.9%)
3) Seventy-one (71) other HOR members:
FY2027 Draft: US$7,829,382
FY2026 Approved: US$7,506,627
Increment: US$322,755 (4.30% increase)
House of Senate:
1) Senate Pro-Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence:
FY2027 Draft: US$254,250
FY2026 Approved: US$254,250
Increment: US$0 (0% increase)
2) Twenty-nine (29) other Senate members:
FY2027 Draft: US$3,473,923
FY2026 Approved: US$3,319,265
Increment: US$154,658 (4.7% increase)
Total Salary for 103 Lawmakers:
1) FY2027 Draft: US$12,019,587
2) FY2026 Approved: US$11,534,662
3) How much in two, just on salary alone? US$23,554,249
So, on average, each lawmaker got US$228K. Imagine, a whopping US$23.5 million in just 24 months, while jobs, health, education, security, electricity, roads, housing, safe drinking water, sanitation, food security, Tech, SMEs, etc. still remain a very, very big challenge across Liberia.
This salary is for them (lawmakers) only. Their office staff’s salaries are not included. It’s different. The total salary for all of their staff is US$8.6 million for FY2027. Please go through the attached tables. We simplified everything.
Besides the US$12 million that they are going to receive as salary for FY2027, they will also receive other compensation, totaling US$5.55 million. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of civil servants, including public school teachers, health workers, and security personnel, still earn a non-living wage of US$150 a month.
Legislators or Leech-gislooters? But who will tell y’all (Liberians)?
Besides their salary and other compensation, look at what they also have again for FY2027:
1) Entertainment: US$2,657,156
2) Constituency Visit: US$3,835,250
3) Foreign Travel (DSA): US$128,372
4) Foreign Travel Incidental Allowance: US$80,754
5) Domestic Travel (DSA): US$263,245
6) Personnel Insurance: US$327,029
7) Incapacity, Death, and Funeral Expenses: US$105,500
As though this is not even enough and ridiculous, they also have multiple other lines, directly for them, including legislative committee (US$2,214,758).
Is this not greed? This is greed on an industrial scale. Legislators or Leech-gislooters? But who will tell y’all? All of this is happening at a time when hundreds of thousands of youths are jobless; poverty has increased (World Bank Report, 2026); hunger has increased (Global Hunger Report, 2026); and a damning 2026 U.S. Investment Climate Report released on Liberia. How can a poor, aid-dependent, food-insecure, and debt-prone country like Liberia waste such money on just few individuals while millions of people remain poor and jobless? This has to end now. A radical shift is a matter of national urgency.
Fiscal Year (2026), the total approved budget for the Legislature alone was US$57 million. From January 1, 2026 to September 30, 2026, they have already spent US$64.3 million (an excess or overspending of US$7 million). Why is this happening when we campaigned and voted against this same overspending in 2023? The excess would even be far more than US$7 million, because October, November, and December’s expenditures for FY2026 are yet to be reported/disclosed. Then, this coming FY2027, they have a proposed budget of US$58.2 million again. So, this means that in just 24 months (FY2026-2027), the Legislature alone got US$122.5 million. Wow. Isn’t this State plunder?
Look at what they gave all the Liberian businesses that should actually be creating jobs in the private sector to reduce unemployment: US$2.5 million. A handful of politicians and/or so-called “elites” continue to consume/pocket almost everything every year while the people suffer. The suffering in Liberia is artificial. It is man-made. It is a suffering by design and not by nature (God). And the designers are Liberian politicians. Legislators or Leech-gislooters? But who will tell y’all?
The national budget still remains a cash cow. Did they really come to serve or to steal? Did they really come to lead or to loot? Legislators or Leech-gislooters? But who will tell y’all?
It’s time to rationalize public spending, put a curb on wastage, curtail corruption and procurement fraud, and efficiently utilize public resources. The People First. Liberia 
First. We must fight to change this form of economic violence against our people. A radical shift from a consumption-based budget to a production-based budget is needed now to create wealth and create jobs (e.g., manufacturing).
This is part 4 of our 10-part series on the FY2027 Draft National Budget. Watch out for part 5.
About The Author: Martin K. N. Kollie is a Liberian activist in exile and a former student leader in Liberia.
Cc: President Joseph Nyuma Boakai
Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung Sr.
Speaker Koon Richard Nagbe
Senate Pro-Temp Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence
Deputy Speaker Thomas P. Fallah
Senator Abe Darius Dillon
Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan
The Liberian People
