By: Julius Konton
US-based Liberian activist Tennie Jallah has issued a stark warning on Liberia’s development trajectory, arguing that the country’s chronic underdevelopment is not driven by a lack of ideas, resources, or international support, but by a persistent failure of leadership priorities, fiscal discipline, and political courage.
According to Jallah, decades of lofty promises on poverty reduction, youth empowerment, and inclusive growth have failed to translate into meaningful improvements in the lives of ordinary Liberians.
Instead, he says, the country remains trapped in a paradox where the cost of governance continues to rise while opportunity for the majority continues to shrink.
“Liberia’s problem is not imagination, It is misalignment,” Jallah said. “You cannot build a developing nation with leadership lifestyles designed for middle-income economies.”
A Youthful Nation Without Jobs
Liberia he said is one of the youngest countries in the world demographically, with over 60 percent of its population under the age of 35, Yet such demographic advantage has increasingly become a liability.
Independent labor and development estimates suggest that youth unemployment and underemployment exceed 70 percent, leaving millions of young Liberians either idle or trapped in precarious informal work.
Skills training institutions remain underfunded, access to startup capital is limited, and pathways from education to employment are weak or nonexistent.
“This is not just a social crisis; it is an economic time bomb,” Jallah warned.
The Cost of Governance Versus the Cost of Poverty
At the center of Jallah’s critique is Liberia’s public wage structure, which he describes as fragmented, inflated, and morally disconnected from national realities.
Public finance assessments indicate that less than 10 percent of senior public officials consume a disproportionate share of the national wage bill, while frontline workers including teachers, nurses, and junior civil servants earn wages that barely cover basic living costs.
Meanwhile, government spending on youth vocational training, technical education, and small business financing remains chronically inadequate, despite repeated commitments in national development plans.
“This is not an argument against fair compensation,” Jallah clarified. “Leadership deserves dignity. But dignity must be balanced with responsibility to a poor nation” he maintained.
Why Salary Harmonization Has Become a Flashpoint
Jallah argues that salary harmonization, reducing excessive pay disparities, allowances, and elite privileges, is no longer optional but essential to restoring fiscal credibility and public trust.
According to him, Liberia’s current system undermines governance legitimacy by creating the perception and reality that public office is a route to personal comfort rather than national service.
He outlined three immediate benefits of reform:
Freeing millions of dollars annually for development investments
Strengthening fiscal discipline and public confidence
Sending a clear signal that leadership is about service, not entitlement
“True leadership begins with example,” he said.
Redirecting Resources to Growth, Not Bureaucracy
Jallah insists that savings generated from wage reform must not disappear into administrative overhead but should be explicitly redirected toward sectors that generate jobs and long-term growth.
Priority areas, he said, should include:
Youth skills development and vocational training
Affordable loan schemes for Liberian entrepreneurs
Support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which globally account for over 70 percent of employment
“These are not welfare programs,” Jallah emphasized. “They are economic investments.”
“A young Liberian trained in agriculture, construction, ICT, or manufacturing becomes a taxpayer not a protester, while
An entrepreneur with access to credit becomes an employer not a burden”, he added.
Jobs as a National Security Strategy
Drawing from Liberia’s conflict history, Jallah warned that prolonged exclusion carries serious risks.
“No nation can police its way to peace.
No government can speech its way to stability, Jobs are the strongest form of social security”, he re-emphasized.
Jallah argued that widespread unemployment creates fertile ground for manipulation by political actors who profit from instability rather than development.
In this sense, employment is not merely an economic concern but a national security imperative.
“When citizens can work, earn, and build livelihoods, they have a stake in peace and national unity,” he said. “When they cannot, frustration becomes a weapon.”
Development Requires Sacrifice at the Top
Jallah pointed to global development history, noting that countries that achieved sustained growth did so through shared sacrifice, particularly from political elites.
“Leaders who ask citizens to endure hardship while insulating themselves from it erode trust, legitimacy, and cohesion,” he said.
According to him, genuine leadership must be demonstrated not only through policy documents but through personal and institutional example.
He argued that harmonizing government salaries and reinvesting the savings into youth employment and entrepreneurship would represent a concrete commitment to:
Poverty reduction, Job creation, Social stability and Long-term economic growth
A Choice That Will Define Liberia’s Future
Jallah maintained with a blunt assessment:
“Liberia does not need more expensive governance. It needs more productive citizens.”
Redirecting resources from administrative comfort to human capital development, he said, is not punishment for leaders but nation-building.
“That is how economies grow.
That is how dignity is restored.
And that is how Liberia moves forward.”
