Abraham Duogbay Duo Jr., a supporter of Unity Party campaign team, claims that “President George Weah placed US$10 million in the 2023 national budget” for his campaign is unproven. There is no specific budget line in the current budget for county tours.
On June 27, 2023, a supporter of the opposition Unity Party, Abraham Duogbay Duo Jr. took to Facebook, claiming that “President George Weah placed US$10 million in the 2023 National budget for his campaign, [but] he calls it ‘çounty tours’.”
Mr. Duo Jr. wrote: “Weah spends 3 million USD from our national budget to buy his campaign pickups.!!!!!!! George Weah placed 10 million USD in the 2023 National budget for his campaign, he calls it ” County tours”.
Local Voices Liberia iVerify Team reviewed the national budget and found no proof to substantiate Mr. Dou’s claim, and conclude that the statement is false.
To reach this conclusion, we reviewed the 2023 National Budget. Under code 0100 OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, we did not see a specific budget line there for county tours.
Please note that the total amount allocated to the Office of the President in the 2023 budget is US$4,311,750.
Out of this amount, US$800,000 is allocated to the President’s office for Domestic Travel — Means of Travel, US$700,000 is allocated for Domestic Travel — Daily Subsistence Allowance, and US$216,000 is allocated for Fuel and Lubricants for the President’s Vehicles.
When these figures are summed up, you’ll get a total of US$1.7 million for President Weah’s domestic travels and means of travel.
This means the amount allocated for the President’s domestic tours and means of travel is not 10 million as claimed by the poster.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim by Mr. Abraham Duogbay Duo Jr., is false. There is no evidence in the 2023 national budget to validate his claim.
Local Voices Liberia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, has implemented the iVerify Liberia system with the objective of strengthening capacities to address threats to information integrity, especially in view of the upcoming 2023 elections, to ensure all Liberian citizens have access to credible, reliable and verified information, everywhere and at all times.
This initiative is funded by Irish Aid, Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia, European Union Delegation in Liberia and the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. The donors have no say in the production of this fact check report.
