Summary: President Boakai claimed during his first State of the National Address (SONA) that the number of paved roads in Liberia is only 1,131.1km constituting 8.7% of the 13,000km Liberia desires. We fact-check this claim and find it mostly correct.
On Monday, January 29, President Joseph Boakai during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) claimed that the total number of paved roads in the national road network is only 1,131.1km constituting 8.7% of the 13,000km of road the network needs.
President Boakai was making a case that even though there has been some progress in the road and transport sector during 2023, there remain substantial challenges in road infrastructure and the urgent need to fund road development in the country.
The Claim
President Boakai: “The total paved roads in our national road network amount to only 1,131.1km, representing 8.7% percent of the 13,000 km road network we need. This fact underscores considerable.”
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we checked the currently available road update by the Ministry of Public Works which is tasked with the responsibility of surveying, drafting, and designing construction and supervising construction contracts, and the maintenance of roads, bridges, and public buildings.
Our search found live interviews broadcasted on several online Facebook pages including the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs & Tourism (MICAT) on January 18, 2024. In the live interview on the MICAT Facebook page, outgoing public work minister Ruth Coker Collins gave updates on deliverables as head of the ministry under the stewardship of President George Weah. The interview lasted for 42:38.
In her deliberations at 27:15, Coker-Collins announced that “in total, the Ministry of Public Works was able to pave around 400 km of roads from 2018 to 2023.”
Before the inception of the George Weah government in 2018, Liberia had a total paved road of 745km, according to data from the Ministry of Public Works.
Adding the 400km of paved road done during the Weah administration to the 745km will bring the total paved roads to 1,145km constituting 8.8% of the 13,000km road network Liberia needs.
Conclusion
Based on this research, we therefore conclude that the claim by Pres. Joseph Boakai that the total number of paved roads in the national road network is 1,131.1km constituting 8.7% of the 13,000km is mostly correct.
The total paved road is 1,145km constituting 8.8% of the 13,000km road network Liberia needs.