Summary:
- Representative Musa Bility of Nimba County has made claims about the percentages of Liberians that lack some basic social amenities.
- We have verified his numbers by consulting different sources and found them to be incorrect.
- Our findings revealed significant differences in the data he provided.
Representative Musa Hassan Bility, on February 16, claimed in a Facebook post titled “A Moment of Reflection and a Vision for Nimba” that nearly 70% of Nimbaians lack access to clean drinking water.
He made this claim following a meeting with Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Kougn and other prominent citizens of the county.
Mr. Bility represents the people of Electoral District #7 of Nimba County at the House of Representatives.
The Claim
An excerpt of his post reads, “We sit on vast natural wealth, yet nearly 70% of our people do not have access to clean drinking water”.
Rating Justification
To fact-check this claim, we contacted the lawmaker via WhatsApp, requesting that he provide the source of his data and provide more clarity. Representative Bility did not respond to the inquiry as of the time of the publication of this report. We will update this report when he provides a response.
We then searched for relevant data on access to clean drinking water in Nimba County. Our research found the 2022 National Housing and Population Census report, published on the website of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS)—the official source of national statistics.
A review of page 64 of the report reveals that 30% of Liberia’s population lacks access to safe drinking water, meaning 70% do have access to clean or safe drinking water. This report did not provide specific data on access to clean drinking water in Nimba County.
Additionally, a 2022 UNICEF report on drinking water services in Liberia estimates that 75% of the population uses at least basic drinking water sources.
“Basic drinking water source” is defined in this report as improved water sources where collection time does not exceed 30 minutes for a round trip, including queuing. There is also no specific data on access to safe drinking water in Nimba in particular.
However, we reviewed the 2019-2020 Liberia Demographic and Health Survey report, a nationwide survey conducted in Liberia to gather data on key demographic and health indicators, including child and maternal health, family planning, nutrition, health behaviors, access to healthcare, and immunization.
We reviewed Page 12 of this report and found that at the county level, access to basic drinking water services ranges from 50% in River Cess to 91% in Grand Gedeh County.
This means that 50% of the residents of Rivercess County lack access to safe drinking water.
Conclusion
With these findings, we conclude that the claim made by Representative Musa Hassan Bility that 70% of the people of Nimba County lack access to safe drinking water is unproven.
There is no specific data on access to safe drinking water in Nimba County, but the 2022 Census and UNICEF reports indicate that 30% of Liberians lack access to safe drinking water.
Also at the county level, the 2019-2020 Liberia Demography and Health Survey report indicates that access to safe drinking water ranges from 50% in Rivercess to 91% in Grand Gedeh counties – the two counties to some of the lowest access to safe drinking water.
