Bility Warns Against Normalizing Hardship -Says ‘Noise Is Not Progress, Numbers Not Development’

MONROVIA – As Liberia prepares to turn the page on 2025, a year marked by political noise, economic strain, and growing public frustration, Nimba County District #7 Representative and political leader of the Citizens Movement for Change, Hon. Musa Hassan Bility, has issued a sober reflection on the state of the nation—one that challenges both leaders and citizens to move beyond performance politics toward seriousness, accountability, and measurable governance outcomes. In his latest edition of “Letter from Seclapea”, Bility opines: “Liberia must stop being a place where others benefit most from what belongs to us. Opportunity must be designed so Liberians can truly rise, compete, own, and build.” The Analyst reports.

Nimba County District #7 Representative and Political Leader of the Citizens Movement for Change (CMC), Hon. Musa Hassan Bility, has described 2025 as a year of hard lessons for Liberia, urging citizens and leaders alike to move from political performance to serious governance as the country prepares to enter 2026.

In the latest edition of his reflective political series, “Letter from Saclepea,” titled “Goodbye to 2025,” Rep. Bility offered a candid assessment of Liberia’s political climate, economic realities, and national mood, while outlining his expectations for a more demanding and participatory new year.

Writing from Saclepea, Nimba County, Rep. Bility noted that 2025 did not pass quietly, but instead revealed long-standing governance weaknesses that Liberia continues to struggle to confront.

“Our politics once again reminded us that noise is not progress, and numbers are not development,” he wrote, criticizing what he described as excessive political theatrics, weak fiscal discipline, and institutions that bend under pressure instead of standing firm.

According to Rep. Bility, national debates throughout the year focused more on appearances than outcomes, leaving ordinary Liberians grappling with persistent economic hardship. He observed that while political announcements were frequent, tangible improvements in the lives of market women, students, and unemployed youth remained limited.

“Governance became performance,” Bility stated, adding that while public hope remained alive, confidence in routine governance steadily declined.

The lawmaker emphasized that his consistent public commentary throughout the year was intentional, describing silence as “also a vote” in moments when clarity and accountability were required. He argued that Liberia’s challenge is not a lack of resources, but a lack of discipline, clear decision-making, and accountability.

A recurring theme in Rep. Bility’s 2025 reflections, he noted, was the urgent need for new thinking—not new slogans or recycled leadership styles, but a governing mindset that rejects impunity, values measurable results, and treats public office as a duty rather than a reward.

Despite the challenges, Rep. Bility acknowledged positive developments, including increased civic awareness, bolder citizen engagement, and growing public resistance to what he described as “entertainment politics.” He said communities across the country increasingly organized, questioned authority, and demanded results.

At the same time, he warned that economic pressure, fragile trust, rising social tensions, and divisive national conversations continued to threaten social cohesion. He expressed concern that many Liberians remain one crisis away from deeper poverty and humiliation.

Looking ahead to 2026, Rep. Bility said Liberia must resist the temptation to romanticize the past year and instead commit to learning from it.

He called for 2026 to be a more serious, active, and demanding year, emphasizing five core priorities: seriousness in governance with less ceremony and more delivery; strict adherence to constitutional order and institutional processes; economic patriotism that prioritizes Liberian ownership and opportunity; honesty in leadership; and national unity rooted in principle rather than silence.

“Unity does not mean ignoring wrong,” he wrote. “Unity means we can fight for Liberia without fighting each other.”

Rep. Bility concluded by reminding Liberians that national transformation is not automatic with the passage of time, but the result of deliberate choices by citizens and leaders.

“If 2025 taught us anything,” he wrote, “it taught us that a country does not change because time passes. A country changes because people decide to change it.”

He urged Liberians to make 2026 the year of conscious decision-making, accountability, and national renewal.

“This year, our politics continued to teach us what we already know, but refuse to admit: that noise is not progress, and numbers are not development,” Bility added. “We argued about budgets as if they were trophies, when they should be mirrors.

“A mirror that shows what kind of people we are, what kind of leaders we have become, and what kind of country we are willing to tolerate. Too often, the mirror showed us the same old face: spending without seriousness, promises without a plan, and institutions that bend when they should stand.”

Furthering his thoughts, the Nima County lawmaker said: “We watched governance become performance. We watched big announcements come and go, and at the end of the day, the market woman still counted her losses, the student still counted his disappointments, and the young man still counted his years without opportunity.

“We watched the public mood swing between hope and exhaustion. The people did not stop believing in Liberia, but many stopped believing in the routine ways Liberia has been governed.

And through it all, I kept writing. I wrote because silence is also a vote. I wrote because when leadership becomes comfortable with confusion, somebody must insist on clarity. I wrote because our country is not short of resources; it is short of discipline and decision-making.

“I wrote because the greatest danger to Liberia is not our hardship, it is our acceptance of hardship as normal. In my writings this year, one theme kept returning like a stubborn truth: the need for new thinking. Not a new slogan. Not a new set of faces repeating old habits. A new thinking that is allergic to impunity, serious about accountability, and obsessed with measurable results. A new thinking that refuses to treat public office as a reward, and treats it as a duty.”