A development specialist, Boniface D. Satu, has called on President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to begin 2026 with a clear and decisive act of leadership: a national stakeholders’ meeting that brings the entire country together around one agenda—unity and the economy.
Satu stated that Liberia is too polarized to grow sustainably, pointing out that political competition has hardened into division, and division has slowed economic progress. “Investors hesitate; policies stall; institutions weaken; and ordinary Liberians pay the price through joblessness, high prices, and persistent poverty,” he observed.
According to him, a President-led national stakeholders’ meeting at the start of the year would send an unmistakable signal: Liberia’s economy is bigger than politics, and national unity is a prerequisite for development. He said this is not about forming alliances or diluting democratic competition; instead, aligning the nation around shared economic survival and progress.
The meeting, he said, must be inclusive and national in character, bringing together leaders of all major political parties, former and current national leaders, civil society organizations, the private sector, traditional and religious leaders, the Fourth Estate (media), and development partners and policy institutions. “Only such broad inclusion can restore trust and legitimacy to the national conversation,” he emphasized.
He recommended that the single agenda should be “unity and the economy”, and that the purpose of the meeting should be clear and disciplined—not open-ended politics.
“The agenda must focus on national unity despite political differences, jobs creation and productive employment, affordability and cost-of-living pressures, poverty reduction through economic transformation, and continuity of major economic and infrastructure policies,” he added.
He concluded that Liberia stands at a crossroads: one path continues the familiar cycle of political fragmentation and economic stagnation; the other begins with unity, cooperation and a shared commitment to rebuild the economy. He said President Boakai has the Constitutional authority and the moral responsibility to set that tone, and that beginning the new year 2026 with a national unity and economic dialogue would be a defining act of leadership—placing the nation above faction and the economy above politics.
He underscored that, as Liberia enters a new year 2026, the country does not need more political noise; it needs direction, unity of purpose, and above all, an economy that works for its people.
