Summary:
- A popular critic of the Liberian government claims 7 out of 10 people in Montserrado County are living in poverty, adding that 8 out of 10 people in rural Liberia are poor
- We have verified this claim by reviewing the World Bank’s most recent Liberia Poverty Assessment Report and found that the poverty rate is not as low as was presented
- We also found that he relied on 2016 World Bank data, which is nine years old, to make his assertion about poverty in the country
On May 27, Aloysius Howe, assistant to former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah and a supporter of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), claimed that 7 out of 10 people in Montserrado are living in poverty.
Howe further claimed that 8 out of 10 people in rural areas are affected by poverty, citing the World Bank Liberia Poverty Assessment Report as evidence to back his claim.
Howe made these claims while highlighting the government’s poor performance since taking office, claiming the President seems unbothered.
The Claim
Wrote Howe to Facebook: “7 out of 10 people in Montserrado County are living in poverty, while in rural areas, 8 out of 10 people are affected by poverty.”
Rating Justification
To verify these claims, we contacted Howe via WhatsApp for clarification. In his response to us, he stated that he had already provided the source for his claim.
We then reviewed the World Bank’s most recent Liberia Poverty Assessment Report, published in March 2024, titled “Liberia Poverty Assessment Report 2023: Towards a More Inclusive Liberia.”
The World Bank report does not provide a specific poverty rate for Montserrado County, but it does present data for Monrovia.
According to the report, the poverty rate in Monrovia is 3 out of 10 people as of 2023.
The report does confirm, however, that poverty is significantly worse in rural areas. Citing 2016 statistics, the report adds that 8 out of 10 individuals were affected by poverty that year.
It states: “The report highlights that while 3 out of 10 people in Monrovia are living in poverty, the situation is significantly worse in rural areas, where 8 out of 10 individuals were affected by poverty in 2016. This stark disparity between urban and rural areas poses a significant challenge to poverty reduction efforts in Liberia.”
It is important to note that the World Bank’s 2023 poverty data reflect conditions before the current administration took office in January 2024.
Therefore, the data used in the report primarily pertains to the period of the immediate past government.
Conclusion
Based on our review of the most recent World Bank data, we conclude that Howe’s claim that 7 out of 10 people in Montserrado are living in poverty is incorrect.
The World Bank 2023 Poverty Assessment Report does not provide the actual figure for Montserrado; however, it states that 3 out of 10 people in Monrovia are living in poverty.
His claim that 8 out of 10 people are affected by poverty in rural areas reflects the World Bank’s 2016 report, which is nine years old.