In Summary:
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Assistant Labor Minister Emmanuel Barnes and CDC supporter Wantoe Teah Wantoe made competing claims about Liberia’s domestic revenue during a January 6 OK FM radio debate.
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Barnes claimed domestic revenue stood at US$452 million in 2017 and rose to about US$612 million by the end of the CDC administration in 2023. Still, official Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) data show the 2017 figure was actually US$427 million. LRA records confirm that domestic revenue in 2023 stood at US$611.9 million, making Barnes’s 2023 figure mostly accurate.
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The same data also show that domestic revenue increased by US$184.9 million over the CDC administration’s six years, confirming Wantoe’s claim that revenue rose by more than US$120 million.
On January 6, Assistant Minister Emmanuel K. Barnes and Wantoe Teah Wantoe participated in an OK FM radio debate, where they discussed Liberia’s economic performance under successive administrations.
During the discussion, Barnes claimed that at the end of the Unity Party (UP) administration in 2017, domestic revenue stood at US$452 million, while by the end of 2023, under the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) administration, domestic revenue had reached only US$612 million.
In response, Wantoe countered that the CDC government had increased domestic revenue by more than US$120 million during its time in office.
Claim #1
Barnes claimed: “Under six years, the domestic revenue of the country as of 2017 stood at US$452 million; at the end of 2023, the Weah administration could only generate US$612 million in domestic revenue.”
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we reviewed official revenue reports from the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) for 2017 and 2023.
According to the LRA’s 2017 annual report, actual domestic revenue collected that year amounted to US$427 million, not US$452 million as claimed by Barnes.
For 2023, LRA data show that domestic revenue collected stood at US$611.9 million, which closely aligns with Barnes’s figure of US$612 million.
Conclusion
Based on the LRA’s 2017 and 2023 reports, we conclude that Barnes’s claim that domestic revenue stood at US$452 million in 2017 is incorrect. However, his assertion that domestic revenue reached about US$612 million in 2023 is mostly correct, as official data place the figure at US$611.9 million.
Claim #2
Wantoe claimed: “Under President Weah, we increased domestic revenue by over US$120 million during his first term.”
Rating Justification
In response to Barnes, Wantoe Teah Wantoe claimed that the CDC administration increased domestic revenue by more than US$120 million during President Weah’s tenure.
We reviewed LRA domestic revenue data covering the period from 2017 to 2023, which corresponds with President Weah’s six years in office.
The data show that domestic revenue stood at US$427 million when the Weah administration took office in 2018. By the end of 2023, domestic revenue had increased to US$611.9 million.
A comparison of these figures indicates that domestic revenue rose by US$184.9 million over the CDC administration’s six-year period.
Conclusion
Based on available LRA data, the claim made by Wantoe Teah Wantoe that the CDC administration increased domestic revenue by more than US$120 million is correct.
Official figures confirm that domestic revenue increased by approximately US$184.9 million during the CDC’s six years in office.
