The Liberia We Must Build

Liberia has changed leaders, governments, and political promises-but why have the lives of ordinary citizens changed so little?

In 1966, the landmark study Growth Without Development by Robert W. Clower, George Dalton, Mitchell Harwitz, and A. A. Walters exposed the contradiction of rapid economic growth alongside widespread underdevelopment, a contradiction that Liberia, sixty years later, has yet to overcome. Too often, thoughtful Liberians evaluate identical government actions differently depending on which party or president is responsible, but such selective judgment prevents the country from confronting its urgent challenges.

Out of a deep love for Liberia and its future, Augustus Jonathan Flomo writes The Liberia We Must Build to compare the Weah and Boakai administrations while examining what each inherited, placing their performance within Liberia's broader history of economic growth without development, abundant natural resources without sufficient benefits for citizens, and democratic aspirations without sustained institutional implementation. He updates that national reckoning through rigorous, evidence-based analysis of recent governance and calls on Liberians to judge every administration by the same standards, verify claims before assigning praise or blame, and measure national progress by the lived realities of ordinary citizens across all fifteen counties.

This book challenges Liberians to move beyond partisan propaganda, confront the evidence, and build a nation where leadership, institutions, accountability, and economic growth deliver measurable improvements for every citizen.