17/09/2025
Weaponizing the Economy: How President Boakai’s Unity Party is Using LPRC to Strangle Liberia’s Private Sector
By CTV Africa | September 17, 2025
In a country still healing from years of political instability and economic uncertainty, Liberia now finds itself in the grip of a new and deeply disturbing trend: the weaponization of state institutions to suffocate opposition, silence private enterprise, and consolidate power.
At the center of this storm is the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) — once a neutral government utility, now transformed into a political battering ram. And behind the levers of this transformation is President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, the elder statesman who promised to “rescue” Liberia but is now accused of unleashing a campaign of economic terrorism against his critics.
The Quiet Coup Inside LPRC
Since the appointment of Amos Tweh, a staunch Unity Party loyalist, as Managing Director of LPRC, what should have remained a state-owned service provider has allegedly turned into a vehicle for political persecution.
Under Tweh’s leadership, LPRC has abandoned its mandate of fair regulation. Instead, it is now acting both as regulator and competitor in the petroleum sector — a blatant violation of the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) Act. This dangerous dual role enables LPRC to write the rules, enforce them, and benefit from them — effectively becoming judge, jury, and economic executioner.
And the targets? Prominent among them is Musa Hassan Bility, businessman, politician, and critic of the current administration. His companies, along with other independent importers, are reportedly facing deliberate economic pressure designed to force them out of the market.
The $9 Million Scandal
In what critics are calling a textbook case of constitutional abuse, LPRC recently secured a $9 million loan from Ecobank — a move done without legislative approval, violating Article 34(d) of the Liberian Constitution, which mandates that all such financial commitments receive prior authorization from the Legislature.
“This is not just mismanagement,” said one political analyst. “This is an outright subversion of democratic checks and balances.”
The loan raises critical questions: Where is the money going? Why was the Legislature bypassed? And who stands to benefit?
Predatory Pricing & the Private Sector Squeeze
LPRC has also introduced a revised storage pricing structure, reducing the fee from US$0.35 to US$0.20 per gallon — but only for private importers. The company's own imports remain exempt from this change, allowing LPRC to undercut competitors while escaping the same financial constraints.
Economists and petroleum industry experts have called this “predatory pricing”, warning that it mirrors anti-competitive strategies used in monopolistic regimes around the world. The goal, they argue, is simple: eliminate private players, seize full control of the market, and ensure that only regime-friendly businesses survive.
“This isn’t policy,” said one industry insider who requested anonymity. “This is economic warfare.”
Silencing Professional Dissent
As the crisis unfolds, respected voices within the sector — including Gweh Gaye Tarwo and Alieu Fuad Nei — have spoken out against LPRC’s pricing model, warning that it ignores basic operating costs like salaries, insurance, taxes, and regulatory compliance.
But instead of being heard, they have been silenced, marginalized, and removed from critical decision-making processes.
“It’s no longer about what’s right or sustainable,” said Tarwo in a private memo. “It’s about what serves the political agenda.”
A Nation Betrayed
President Boakai campaigned on a promise of ARREST — Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation, and Tourism — a bold agenda that positioned the private sector as the engine of national revival.
But today, that promise lies in ruins.
From student protesters tear-gassed on university campuses to struggling entrepreneurs pushed out of business, a clear pattern has emerged: dissent is punished, independence is threatened, and institutions are weaponized.
“This isn’t governance,” said CDC Secretary General Jefferson Koijee in a scathing statement. “This is a betrayal of trust — and the beginning of economic dictatorship.”
A Call for Urgent Intervention
Koijee and others are calling for immediate action:
An independent investigation into the $9 million Ecobank loan.
Separation of LPRC’s roles as regulator and market participant.
Legal accountability for constitutional violations.
International pressure from the EU, U.S. Embassy, African Union, and ECOWAS to restore democratic standards and economic fairness.
“If countries like Namibia and South Africa can run state-owned enterprises without destroying their private sectors,” Koijee noted, “why can’t Liberia?”
The Road Ahead
The Unity Party's economic policies — once heralded as a "rescue mission" — are now being viewed by many as a coordinated campaign of control, suppression, and profit for the few at the expense of the many.
What began as a political promise has become a power grab.
And as prices rise, jobs vanish, and dissenters are silenced, one truth remains clear:
This is no longer just a political crisis.
It is a fight for the soul of Liberia’s democracy.
