Naymote Partners for Democratic Development has released its President Meter Report 2025, revealing that the Government of Liberia has made limited progress in implementing the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID) during its first year in office.
According to the findings, only three interventions (0.8%) were fully completed. While 165 interventions (43.7%) showed some level of progress, 76 interventions (20.1%) had not started at all.
The report, launched on January 12, provides the first independent, evidence-based assessment of the Boakai administration’s flagship development agenda, covering the period from January to December 2025.
It tracks 378 interventions across 52 core programs and six strategic pillars, offering a detailed picture of achievements, delays, and systemic bottlenecks.
The report further states that 55.5% of the ARREST Agenda interventions are either inactive or not verifiable, raising serious concerns about implementation speed, inter-agency coordination, and transparency.
Mixed Performance Across Pillars
The assessment shows uneven performance across the six pillars of the ARREST Agenda.
Governance and Anti-Corruption recorded a 56.9% activation rate, while Environmental Sustainability (56.7%) and Infrastructure Development (55.3%) also performed relatively better. These gains were attributed largely to digital governance reforms, donor-supported climate initiatives, and visible infrastructure projects.
However, Human Capital Development (36.7%) and Economic Transformation (35%) emerged as the weakest-performing pillars.
Naymote attributed these shortcomings to chronic underfunding, weak inter-ministerial coordination, and limited public reporting by implementing institutions.
The Rule of Law pillar recorded a 48.6% activation rate, including one fully completed intervention, reflecting modest progress amid lingering institutional and capacity challenges.
County-Level Service Delivery Still Lagging
Beyond national-level implementation, the report highlights persistent service delivery gaps at the subnational level.
Assessments of County Service Centers reveal that more than 60% of essential government services remain unavailable outside Monrovia, underscoring the slow pace of decentralization despite repeated policy commitments.
Signs of Progress Amid Challenges
Despite the overall slow pace, Naymote acknowledged several notable achievements.
These include the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court office, the rollout of biometric national ID registration reaching over 710,000 citizens, pilot implementation of e-procurement systems, select legislative reforms, and targeted investments in agriculture, energy, and tourism.
“These examples demonstrate that progress is possible when political will, resources, and institutional capacity align,” the report noted.
Call for Urgent Reforms
Commenting on the findings, Naymote warned that the current pace of implementation is far below what is required to meet the AAID’s 2029 targets.
At the existing rate, the organization estimates that implementation would need to accelerate more than twenty-fold to stay on track.
To address these gaps, Naymote recommends the creation of a dedicated ARREST Agenda coordination secretariat, mandatory quarterly public reporting by all implementing agencies, stronger budget execution, and deeper decentralization of authority and resources to the counties.
The President Meter Report 2025 was produced under Naymote’s Democracy Advancement Program, with support from the Embassy of Sweden and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Naymote clarified that the views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect those of its partners.
Naymote, among other things announced that it will continue quarterly monitoring of the ARREST Agenda through 2029, engaging government institutions, civil society, the media, and citizens to promote accountability and results-driven governance.
