CMC Demands Consistent Accountability-Party Challenges Ngafuan’s Credibility

MONROVIA – An opposition party has dared the government to live by the fine words of its own Flag Day oration. The opposition Citizens Movement for Change says the speech’s lofty principles must be measured against the government’s hard financial records. It praised Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan’s speech as eloquent, then sharply questioned his ledger. The party pointed to audit gaps, a vast revenue reconciliation shortfall, and starved oversight institutions. Its verdict was blunt: the minister’s problem is not eloquence but credibility. The party insists accountability must apply equally to allies and opponents alike. Fine words about public trust, it argues, mean nothing at all until they surface in the numbers. THE ANALYST reports.

The Citizens Movement for Change (CMC) made the challenge in response to the 179th National Flag Day oration delivered by Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan on August 24, 2026. It acknowledged the speech as eloquent and patriotic, but questioned what it called a gap between the government’s stated principles and its performance.

Minister Ngafuan was correct, the party said, to stress that public office is a trust, that public resources belong to the people, and that corruption is unacceptable regardless of who commits it. The credibility of such declarations, however, depends on whether they show up in decisions, records, and measurable outcomes.

Credibility, Not Eloquence

“A national oration cannot be judged only by the quality of its language,” the CMC said. “It must be tested against the conduct of the government and, in this case, the financial system over which the orator presides.”

The party described Ngafuan as a respected and capable Liberian admired by many young people, but said he should be judged by the financial system’s performance. “The Minister’s problem is not eloquence. It is credibility,” it declared.

Audit Gains, With Caveats

The CMC acknowledged progress in financial reporting, noting that the 2024 Consolidated Accounts received a qualified audit opinion, an improvement on the adverse opinion for 2023. A qualified opinion, it stressed, does not amount to a clean one.

The party cited audit findings of about US$2.85 million (L$519.73 million) in undocumented payments and roughly US$2.8 million in spending beyond approved appropriations. Explanations blaming record-keeping difficulties, it argued, do not fully resolve the accountability concerns.

A Revenue Reconciliation Gap

The CMC also flagged a General Auditing Commission (GAC) audit of revenue collection from July 2018 through December 2024. It acknowledged the audit spanned two administrations and that the Auditor General did not conclude the discrepancies represented stolen funds.

The party nonetheless highlighted a reported US$373.9 million reconciliation gap between Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) records and Treasury records. It cited unmatched transactions, unsupported reversals, delayed remittances, and the absence of an agreed reconciliation framework among the Finance Ministry, the LRA, and the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL).

Reform Commitments Questioned

On Liberia’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the CMC said reform pledges should be judged on implementation rather than announcement. It cited an IMF assessment reporting that only two of ten applicable structural benchmarks were completed on time during the review period.

The party pointed in particular to delays around a reform meant to enable public disclosure of officials’ asset declarations. “Filing is compliance. Public disclosure is transparency,” it said, urging that citizens be able to access declarations subject to legal safeguards.

Fund The Auditors

The CMC raised concern over the financing of the GAC, citing its 2026–2030 Strategic Plan, which reportedly notes that inadequate and delayed funding has constrained audit coverage. The commission achieved about 65 percent coverage in 2024, below its 80 percent target, partly due to limited resources.

Government cannot make accountability a central theme while starving the institution that audits public resources, the party argued. “If the government believes in audits, it must adequately and promptly fund the GAC,” it stated.

Budget Size Not Enough

The party questioned whether the budget’s size is translating into better lives. By its reading of the second-quarter fiscal report, public administration took about 38.5 percent of the FY2026 budget, while agriculture, the first ARREST Agenda priority, received about 1.2 percent and was cut from the prior year.

It also cited roughly 2.7 percent for transparency and accountability, about 17.8 percent for debt service, and a reported US$200 million from a one-time ArcelorMittal payment. “Revenue collection is not the same as development delivery,” the CMC said, calling for transaction-level disclosure.

A Six-Point Demand

The CMC issued a six-point demand: publish documentation for flagged 2024 expenditures; release the revenue-reconciliation report with deadlines; fund the GAC adequately; complete asset-disclosure reforms; publish transaction-level spending data; and apply accountability without political selection. It said political tolerance must include the government’s willingness to accept criticism.

“Minister Ngafuan, the principles stated in your speech are not the issue. The issue is whether the government you serve will live by them,” the party said. “This is our home. This is our Liberia. The flag cannot raise itself.”