STAND Stands Up to Afrobarometer -Says Latest Opinion Poll Not Reflective of Current Reality

MONROVIA – Favorable or unfavorable on the deportment of the ruling establishment, Afrobarometer’s opinion poll results have often hardly met the negative response from the Liberian civil society, due in part to the fact that those results resonated with the generality of the independent minds and ordinary citizens, and for reflecting a comprehensive assessment. Outcries have often only come from spokespersons of government who had opted to whitewash their bosses. But it seems things are going a bit differently for the theretofore widely respected group, and it is not allowed to pass with impunity. It has fallen into the roving radar of one of Liberia’s most alert civil society groups, STAND, as THE ANALYST reports.   

The civil society organization, STAND, has faulted the latest survey reports by the Afrobarometer, saying group’s basing a survey on barely a month and declaring somewhat positive results was not realistic.

STAND said in a release that while Afrobarometer is a respected tool for gauging public opinion, its recent findings on the state of affairs of the country do not reflect the current socio-economic and governance realities confronting Liberia.

“Although its credibility is not in question, it is important to emphasize that the survey was conducted between July 30 and August 21, 2024—when the Boakai administration had been in office for only six months,” the group said.

A Misleading Narrative

STAND opined that Government surrogates are irresponsibly using this limited-scope survey to suggest broad public support and improved national conditions, describing it misleading.

The survey’s finding that Liberians were evenly divided (50%-50%) on the country’s direction reflects post-election sentiment—a nation still split following a tightly contested race—not genuine endorsement of the government’s performance, the advocacy group observed.

One Year Later: A Starkly Different Picture

STAND said as of June 2025, a full year has passed since the survey was conducted and since then, Liberia has faced a serious of issues: escalating public outrage over deepening poverty and worsening living conditions; crowing concerns about rampant corruption, with no serious prosecutions or transparency; erosion of the rule of law, including selective justice and violations of tenure protections, and an economy in decline—characterized by inflation, low investor confidence, and rising youth unemployment

Th group noted that these conditions define the national reality today—none of which are captured in the Afrobarometer’s outdated findings.

Using that report to whitewash the current crisis under President Boakai is disingenuous and harmful to democratic discourse, the group further takes exception.

STAND’s Position and a Call for an Updated Survey

STAND acknowledges that the July–August 2024 Afrobarometer report reflected a brief post-election rise in optimism—likely driven by hope rather than actual policy results; however, even within that period, “our analysis found little measurable progress in governance, economic management, or the enforcement of the rule of law.”

The group implored  Afrobarometer and other credible monitoring institutions to conduct a new, up-to-date survey that captures the lived experiences of Liberians in 2025, and to include assessments of corruption, justice, economic hardship, human rights abuses, and the erosion of democratic norms—all of which have significantly worsened over the past year.

“Relying on a year-old survey to validate the performance of a government now facing mounting public dissatisfaction is both dishonest and dangerous. Liberia’s democracy depends on truthful, timely, and transparent assessments—not manipulated narratives,” the group said, adding that it remains unwavering in its mission to hold power accountable and ensure that the voices and struggles of the Liberian people are not ignored or distorted.