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Courtesy: Smartnews online
Former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah has transformed Liberia’s ongoing debate over government audit performance into a broader political challenge to the Unity Party, warning that a Qualified Opinion from the General Auditing Commission will not be enough to secure the government’s political future.
In a lengthy defense of the former CDC administration, Tweah argued that the political significance of the current audit debate has been overstated by supporters of President Joseph Boakai’s government.
His central argument is straightforward: if the current administration points to a Qualified Opinion as evidence of improved governance, then the same standard must also be applied to the previous CDC administration, which he says achieved the same audit status in 2021 and 2022.
Tweah therefore believes the real measure of the government’s performance must extend beyond accounting classifications to the everyday economic and institutional conditions confronting Liberians.
“The UP will not be reelected because of Qualified Opinion,” Tweah declared.
Instead, he argued, the government’s prospects in 2029 will depend heavily on whether it can create jobs, improve economic opportunities and demonstrate respect for Liberia’s laws.
His intervention introduces a sharper political dimension to an issue that is often confined to public finance and auditing.
A Qualified Opinion generally indicates that an auditor has identified material issues or limitations in financial reporting, but that the financial statements as a whole are not sufficiently misstated to warrant an Adverse or Disclaimer Opinion.
Tweah’s argument, however, is that the political value of such an opinion cannot be separated from the history that produced it.
He said Liberia’s audit record before the CDC’s 2018 election victory was dominated by Disclaimer Opinions, which he characterized as evidence of severe weaknesses in government financial reporting.
According to Tweah, the CDC administration subsequently moved the country from Disclaimer to Adverse Opinion and later to Qualified Opinion in 2021 and 2022.
That history, he argues, undermines any attempt by the Unity Party to portray a Qualified Opinion as an achievement originating exclusively under the Boakai administration.
But Tweah’s criticism does not stop at the GAC.
He has also placed the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission at the center of his defense of the former government, asserting that President Weah introduced reforms that strengthened the commission’s prosecutorial authority and provided greater protection for its commissioners from presidential removal.
The former minister portrayed those reforms as part of the CDC administration’s broader effort to strengthen accountability institutions.
For Tweah, institutional independence is not simply a legal question. It is a test of whether Liberia’s governance reforms are becoming permanent or remain vulnerable to changes in political leadership.
He also raised an unverified concern about a possible legislative effort to reverse those protections.
Tweah said he had heard that a bill could potentially restore presidential authority over the removal of LACC commissioners, and he challenged the government to clarify whether such a measure exists or is being considered.
That allegation adds another layer to an already politically charged debate over the independence of Liberia’s anti-corruption institutions.
For Tweah, institutional independence is not simply a legal question. It is a test of whether Liberia’s governance reforms are becoming permanent or remain vulnerable to changes in political leadership.
The former minister also accused the Unity Party and its supporters of attempting to “Stalinize” the history of the CDC, using the historical example of Soviet-era efforts to manipulate public narratives and erase political figures from official records.
The provocative comparison underscores the intensity of the political battle over the legacy of the Weah administration.
