Liberia: Priorities for the New Liberian Government: An Opinion Poll

Published at: 12/12/2023 - 07:23 / Updated at: 12/12/2023 - 07:35
GC
Article by Guest Contributor

By Chris Tokpah, Ph.D., Independent Consultant

Author’s Note:

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who responded to the online survey and/or shared the link with other participants. Since perceptions change over time, we intend to conduct future surveys and would like to appeal that you kindly assist us whenever we send out a new link. Our surveys are anonymous; we cannot trace your response back to you. Your participation is important and could affect policy decisions in our society.

Introduction

The author created this anonymous survey to collect information from Liberians about key priorities that the new government needs to focus on. In the interest of time and efficiency, we focused on few key issues.  We distributed the google-form survey online (via WhatsApp and Facebook) between December 5th and 10th, 2023.

Limitations

Before presenting key findings, here are  some limitations:  (1) Citizens’ priorities is a fluid measure which can change over time depending on prevailing circumstances. The result of the survey reflects the current perception and could be vastly different in a few days, weeks, or months from now. (2) The analysis is based on self-reported information. It is quite possible that some respondents did not share their true feelings but provided a socially desirable response. (4) The study used a convenience sample. It is possible that this sample is not truly representative of the population.

Demographics

The survey had 219 respondents.  Majority (71%) of the respondents were males.  In terms of age group, more than half of the respondents (54%) were between the ages of 25 t0 45 years old (25-35, 25%; 36-45, 29%; 46-60, 37%; more than 60, 9%). Seventy seven percent of the respondents earned a bachelor’s degree (37%) or master’s degree (40%). Eleven percent (11%) indicated that they had college credits but did not graduate, 6% were high school graduates, 2% had a technical certificate while the rest (3%) had a doctorate degree. Majority of the respondents (68%) were Liberians living in Liberia, 30% were Liberians who reside outside of Liberia while the rest (2%) described themselves as “African American resident of Liberia for 38 years”, “Liberian who resides in Liberia half a year” or “American living in Liberia”.

In terms of political affiliation, 49% of the respondents were members of the Unity Party (UP), 40% stated that they do not sympathize with any political party, 2% were members of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) while the rest (9%) indicated that they are members of other political parties. Sixty percent (60%) of the respondents indicated that they participated in the 2nd round of the 2023 Presidential elections. Of those who voted in the 2nd round, 94% picked Joseph Boakai (the winner of the election) while 6% preferred George Weah (CDC).

Findings

Top Priority

When asked to recommend the top priority for the new government, the first choice (32%) was “fight against corruption”.  The rest of the priorities included agriculture (25%), road construction (19%), education (14%), reconciliation (8%), and health (1%). Two respondents suggested safety and security, and technology and innovation. Of those who voted for George Weah, their top choices were agriculture (25%), education (25%), road construction (25%), fight against corruption (13%) and reconciliation (13%).

Audit

Ninety-two (92%) of the respondents agreed that the new government needs to conduct a comprehensive audit of the previous government. The remaining 8% suggested that we need to move on because conducting an audit is not in the best interest of peace. Of those who voted for George Weah, 63% advocated for an audit while the rest (32%) want Liberians to move on.

Service in Government

Almost all the respondents (97%) suggested that the new President needs to appoint qualified Liberians regardless of party affiliation. The remaining 3% want the new president to appoint individuals who did not serve in the current CDC government (2%) or UP partisans who are loyal to Joe Boakai (1%).

Ninety-nine percent  (99%) of the respondents recommended that all appointed officials should declare their assets BEFORE they go through confirmation hearing. Additionally, most of the respondents (83%) recommended that the new government needs to conduct background checks on all appointed officials while 14% even recommended that the new government should conduct background checks on all civil servants. Three percent  (3%) of the respondents felt that asset declaration is a waste of time since it is easy to hide assets in Liberia.

Human Rights

On the issue of human rights, 77% of the respondents agreed that the new government must establish a war and economic crimes court to prosecute individuals who committed crimes during the civil war. Conversely, 23% believe that the war was a long time ago, so Liberians need to forgive and move on. Interestingly, respondents in the age group 36-45 (individuals who were between 3 and 12 years old at the start of the civil war) were least likely to recommend a war and economic crimes court (71%) and most likely to recommend that we need to forgive and move on (29%).

About the Author

Chris Tokpah is the Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness at Delaware County Community College in PA. He holds a Ph.D. in Program Evaluation and Measurement, an MBA (with emphasis in Management Information System) and a B.Sc. in Mathematics. He is an Adjunct Professor of Research Methods and Statistics (Ph.D. program) at Delaware Valley University and an independent consultant. He has participated in, or supervised, baseline studies and evaluations sponsored by the World Bank, IDA, Geneva Global, USAID and ADB. He can be reached at ctokpah@kent.edu.