Local Voices Liberia

Misleading: Liberia Did Not Pass MCC Compact’s Fiscal Policy, Rule of Law as Claimed by Top Gov’t Official

In Summary:
  • Following the release of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) 2026 Scorecard, political actors from both the Unity Party government and the opposition have circulated competing claims about Liberia’s performance. Among them is Patrick Honnah, Commissioner for Consumer and Public Affairs at the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA).
  • Commissioner Honnah claimed that since Liberia passed the Fiscal Policy indicator on the MCC Scorecard in 2007, this is the first time the country has passed the Fiscal Policy. He also claimed that Liberia passed the Rule of Law indicator, including Access to Justice.
  • However, our findings reveal that Commissioner Honnah’s claims are misleading, as Liberia did not pass any of the indicators he referenced.

On November 12, Commissioner Patrick Honnah made some claims about Liberia’s performance in the 2026 Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), including Fiscal Policy, Access to Justice, and Ruth of Law. He made these claims as evidence of progress under the current administration, positioning the country for future eligibility for the MCC Compact.

We have verified two of the few claims made by Honnah during an appearance on a local nighttime radio program (the Class Reloaded) using publicly available MCC Scorecards for Liberia, and the details are contained in this report.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. foreign assistance agency established by Congress in January 2004 to provide time-limited grants aimed at promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, and strengthening institutions.

The Claim

Said Mr. Honnah: “The scorecard for 2026 shows that 12 indicators were passed. This is the scorecard that was just released. This marks for us a notable shift from previous years that position our country closer to eligibility for future compact and I like to just quickly highlight some of them. For fiscal policy for fiscal policy. This is the first time since 2007, when Liberia passed the fiscal policy, this is the first time Liberia is passing fiscal policy. And there is something that wye fail called access to justice but we pass rule of law. So, I see people passing around, seeing rule of law. We pass rule of law.”

Rating Justification

To verify this claim, let’s first explain how the MCC Scorecard works. Liberia’s 2026 Scorecard shows that the country passed 12 out of 22 indicators, including Inflation, International Market Access, Poverty and Land Rights, Regulatory Quality, Women in the Economy, Market Competitiveness, Health Expenditures, Chronic Disease, Personal Freedom, Government Accountability, Control of Corruption, and Freedom of Information.

On the MCC Scorecard, green represents a passing mark, indicating that the country scored above the performance standard, while red represents a failing mark, indicating that the country scored below the performance standard.

Every year, the MCC’s Board of Directors identifies the indicators and sets the criteria and methodology used to select countries, which change from year-to-year.

Claim #1

At (0:32:55) of the show, Commissioner Honnah stated: “Since 2007, when Liberia passed fiscal policy, this is the first time Liberia is passing fiscal policy.”

Rating Justification 

To verify this claim, we reviewed all available MCC scorecards for Liberia from 2008 to 2026, the period for which MCC publishes annual performance data. It is important to note that the MCC Scorecards available for Liberia cover the period from fiscal years 2008 to 2026.

According to the MCC Scorecards on Liberia, Liberia passed the fiscal policy in FY2008 with a score of 70%, 2009 (74%), 2010 (71%), 2015 (65%), and 2024 (51%). The 2026 MCC Scorecard does not include a Fiscal Policy indicator.



Conclusion

Based on a review of the MCC Scorecards, we conclude that Commissioner Honnah’s claim that Liberia passed the Fiscal Policy indicator for the first time since 2007 is misleading.

The evidence shows Liberia has passed the indicator multiple times since 2007, and the 2026 scorecard contains no such indicator to support his claim.

Claim #2

At (0:33:46) of the show, Commissioner Honnah stated: “Rule of Law, we passed, and there is something down we failed called Access to Justice.”


Rating Justification

To verify this claim, we reviewed the MCC’s FY2026 scorecard and found that Liberia failed the Rule of Law indicator, scoring 44% as indicated in red (below) in the screenshot.


Figure 1The MCC Scorecard shows that Liberia failed the Rule of Law indicator in 2024 with a score of 44%

It is also important to note that the 2026 MCC Scorecard on Liberia does not include an Access to Justice Indicator.

Conclusion

Based on a review of the 2026 MCC Scorecard, we conclude that Commissioner Honnah’s claim that Liberia passed the Rule of Law indicator and failed the Access to Justice Indicator is misleading.

Liberia did not pass the Rule of Law Indicator in FY2026, and the 2026 scorecard contains no information on Access to Justice


Exit mobile version