In Summary:
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Assistant Labor Minister Emmanuel K. Barnes claimed that health sector funding declined under the CDC government but increased under the Unity Party, and that inflation fell from about 10 percent under the CDC to 4.6 percent under the UP.
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A review of official budget and financial data shows that while health spending from 2018–2019 was about US$81.6 million, it actually increased to about US$89.7 million in 2019–2020.
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Although Barnes misstated total health sector funding for 2024, official records confirm that allocations to the Ministry of Health rose to US$68.96 million in 2025, supporting his claim of increased health funding under the UP.
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CPI data further show that inflation stood at about 10 percent in 2023 and declined to below 5 percent by late 2025, making Barnes’s inflation claim mostly correct.
On January 6, Emmanuel K. Barnes, Assistant Minister for Planning and Manpower Development at the Ministry of Labour, made several claims during a debate on OK FM.
Report By: Ralistsa Massah | Intern Fact Checker
Key among the claims, Barnes asserted that the combined contribution to Liberia’s health sector under the CDC government stood at US$81.58 million in the 2018–2019 fiscal year, but declined to US$75,478,910 in 2019–2020. He further stated that under the Unity Party government, health sector contributions amounted to US$59,677,387 in 2024 and increased to US$68,962,516 in 2025.
He also claimed that the CDC-led government left Liberia’s inflation rate at 10 percent, and that the Unity Party (UP)–led government has since reduced it to about 4.6 percent as of December 2025.
Minister Barnes made these statements while comparing the CDC government’s contributions to key sectors with those of the Unity Party administration.
Claim #1
Minister Barnes stated: “The combined contribution to the health sector, both from the national budget and donor support under the CDC, stood at US$81.58 million in the 2018–2019 budget. In 2019–2020, it dropped to US$75,478,910. Under the Unity Party government, the health sector received US$59,677,387 in 2024, which increased to US$68,962,516 in 2025. Unlike the CDC, whose health budget declined in its second year, the Unity Party increased funding to the sector.”
Rating Justification
To verify whether health sector funding declined during the CDC’s first two years and increased under the Unity Party, we reviewed the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning’s national budget documents and the Consolidated Fund financial statements for the relevant fiscal years.
Our findings show that in fiscal year 2018/2019, under the CDC administration, the expenditure made by the health sector stood at US$61.8 million.
However, for fiscal year 2019/2020, consolidated financial statements indicate that actual expenditure on the health sector increased to US$89.7 million, representing a 31% increase rather than a decline from the previous year.
For fiscal year 2024, under the Unity Party government, the approved health sector budget was US$80.1 million, but the actual expenditure for the year stood at US$64.39 million.
In fiscal year 2025, the approved health sector budget was US$91 million. As of October 31, actual expenditure stood at US$70.4 million, representing an increment in the sector expenditure.
Conclusion
Based on these findings, we conclude that Minister Barnes’s claim that health sector funding declined from US$81.58 million in 2018–2019 to US$75,478,910 in 2019–2020 under the CDC government is incorrect, as official data show an increase in spending during that period.
While his figure for the 2018–2019 fiscal year is largely correct, the claim of a subsequent decline is not supported by official records. Although Barnes misstated the total health sector figure for fiscal year 2024, his assertion that the Ministry of Health received US$68,962,516 in 2025 is correct. Consequently, the claim that health sector funding increased during the Unity Party government’s first two years is supported by the data.
Claim #2
Barnes also claimed: “The CDC left inflation at 10 percent; currently, inflation is at 4.6 percent as of December 2025.”
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we reviewed the Consumer Price Index data published by the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS). The CPI measures changes over time in the general price level of goods and services consumed by households.
According to CPI data for 2023, the final year of the CDC administration, the year-on-year inflation rate stood at 10.01%.
By November 2025, during the second year of the UP administration, the inflation rate had declined to 4.8%.
Conclusion
Based on this review, we conclude that Assistant Minister Barnes’s claim is mostly correct.
Official CPI data confirm that inflation was approximately 10 percent at the end of the CDC administration and has since fallen to below 5 percent under the Unity Party government.
Additional research by: Jerry Gaye
