Nimba County District #7 Representative Musa Hassan Bility has urged the Government of Liberia to treat the recent BTI Country report as a warning rather than an insult to the authority. Mr. Bility, who is also the Political Leader of Citizens Movement for Change (CMC), said the recently released BTI 2026 Country Report on Liberia is not merely an international assessment, noting that it is a mirror held before the nation.
Bility: “It confirms what ordinary Liberians already know from daily experience: our democracy is surviving, but our institutions are weak; our economy is growing on paper, but poverty remains real; our leaders speak of reform, but corruption continues to defeat the hopes of the people.”
He said the report gives Liberia some credit for maintaining democratic elections and peaceful transfers of power. “That is important, and we must protect it. But democracy is not only about voting every six years. Democracy must mean justice, accountability, service delivery, opportunity, and the fair use of national resources. On those deeper questions, the report is deeply troubling,” Bility noted.
He said the BTI report states clearly that corruption remains deeply entrenched in the Liberian state, that the legislature performs its oversight duties poorly, that the judiciary is weak and vulnerable to influence, and that public institutions are often captured by private interests. Bility added, “This is a serious indictment of our governance system. It is also a challenge to those of us in public office.”
“No nation can develop when public service becomes a pathway to private enrichment. No country can defeat poverty when national resources are consumed by recurrent spending, excessive benefits, political patronage, and weak accountability. No democracy can remain strong when the people believe that justice is for the rich, that corruption has no consequences, and that public office protects wrongdoing instead of punishing it,” the CMC Political leader furthered.
He disclosed that the most painful part of the report is its description of the Liberian economy: “Liberia remains among the poorest countries in the world, with unacceptable levels of poverty, weak education outcomes, poor health services, limited electricity, inadequate sanitation, and very few real opportunities for young people. This is not just a statistical failure. It is a human tragedy.”
Bility said the report also reminds us that our political system is still too personalized, too transactional, and too dependent on alliances of convenience rather than national vision. “Political parties are weak. Institutions are weak. Oversight is weak. But the appetite for power remains strong. That combination is dangerous for any republic.”
The Nimba County lawmaker added that the report must not be used only as a weapon against one government or one political party, adding that, “It covers a period that includes both the previous administration and the beginning of the current one. The truth is that Liberia’s crisis is structural. It is deeper than one president. It is deeper than one party. It is a failure of governance culture, institutional discipline, and national accountability over many years.”
“At the same time, the current government cannot hide behind history. It now carries the responsibility to act. Promises of reform must become measurable action. Audits must lead to prosecutions where wrongdoing is established. Asset declarations must be enforced. Public procurement must be transparent. The Legislature must stop behaving like a private club and begin acting as the constitutional guardian of the people’s resources. The judiciary must be strengthened, protected, and held to the highest standard of integrity,” he noted.
He noted that the report should therefore be treated as a national warning, pointing out that Liberia is not failing because it lacks resources, but because “We lack discipline, accountability, and the courage to confront corruption wherever it lives.”
Meanwhile, Representative Bility has called on the Government of Liberia, the Legislature, the Judiciary, civil society, the media, and all national stakeholders to use this report as a serious basis for reform. “Let us stop celebrating small improvements while the majority of our people remain trapped in poverty. Let us stop hiding behind political slogans while institutions continue to decay. Let us stop defending personalities and start defending the Republic.” The lawmaker concluded that Liberia does not need another document to tell the citizens what is wrong, rather it needs the political will to fix what everyone already knows is broken.
