By K. Ericson Sayee
MONROVIA, March 6 (LINA) – Gbarpolu County’s Senator, Amara Konneh, has expressed his desire for the Government of Liberia and the U.S. Embassy near Monrovia to collaborate in the investigation of the usage of USAID funds in Liberia.
The Liberian Statesman further called on the Executive Branch of the Liberian Government to muster the courage to engage with the US Embassy constructively to know how USAID funds were disbursed and utilized in Liberia.
“To compensate for the public humiliation and potential reputational harm to our country, there must be full accountability for how the Americans have used USAID funds in Liberia,” the Gbarpolu Senator said.
“They owe this not only to American taxpayers but also to the Liberian people, who are now the victims of ongoing public scorn. We owe it to our country and our “traditional” bilateral relationship. The Executive Branch should muster the courage to engage the US Embassy on this matter constructively”, Senator Konneh asserted on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, via his social media platform.
Senator Konneh lamented that since the ascendency of US President Donald J. Trump, Liberia along with other African countries have been humiliated about the USAID funds, citing the U.S. President’s recent address to Congress as one of the forums where the issue of USAID’s funds has been discussed.
He disclosed that the U.S. President, during his address to the American Congress on March 4, 2025, again highlighted the US$1.5 million USAID spent on election monitoring in Liberia.
“As a government official watching from my home in Monrovia, his statement compounded the concern and disappointment I had already felt at how our nation has been portrayed in various social media posts from Trump and Musk”, Liberia’s ex-finance minister said.
He added that before March 4, 2025, U.S. President Trump and Mr. Musk had raised questions about the US$17 million and US$1.5 million USAID had spent on various programs in Liberia, citing, “Their aim was to highlight corruption within USAID alleged kickbacks paid to politically influential Americans through the American companies that received these monies, to justify the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency”.
The Liberian Senator noted that Liberia has historically received much smaller assistance envelopes than other countries, most of whom have lousy governance and human rights records.
According to data from the U.S. government, the Liberian former Minister of Finance noted, the United States allocated US$68 billion for international aid in 2023, which reflects a comprehensive distribution of funds across various departments and agencies, with USAID playing a significant role by managing over 60% of the total expenditure, amounting to approximately $42 billion.
“He indicated that USAID disbursed substantial aid to Africa in its efforts, with Ethiopia receiving the largest share at over US$1.7 billion. This allocation comes in the context of complex human rights abuses in Ethiopia,” he narrated.
In addition to Ethiopia, Senator Konneh unearthed that other nations that received the highest support from USAID were Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, and Malawi, where each received contributions exceeding $400 million in 2023.
He argued that Liberia was number 51 on the list, receiving $159.8 million, as the Institute for Security Studies highlighted.
He clarified: “Don’t get me wrong. US$1.5 million is a lot of money for election monitoring in my small country, for which we are grateful to American taxpayers. Still, the amount is dwarfed by USAID spending in the other countries listed above, which have lousy governance, high rates of corruption, and some of the worst human rights records in the world”.
Nevertheless, according to him, Liberia doesn’t deserve to be treated like a pariah when its efforts to be a credible state are far better than the largest recipients of US foreign assistance, adding “We also do not deserve to be gaslighted by our “traditional ally” and told we were not functional enough to receive the magnitude of support we needed to advance. This is not how you treat your friends”.