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HRF classifies Liberia as democratic.
Founded by former slaves and free-born African Americans from the United States, Liberia achieved its independence as a state through a referendum in 1847, more than a century before the rest of Africa. Between 1980 and 2003, the country underwent two consecutive civil wars that resulted in 150,000 to 250,000 deaths and the displacement of half the country’s population. Although Liberia still grapples with corruption and a lack of accountability for past war crimes, the country has progressively evolved into a democracy with strengthened institutions and governance processes. Liberia is now a constitutional republic with a bicameral national assembly and a democratically elected president, as enshrined in the Constitution. Liberia’s 2017 election was recognized by international observers as the country’s first peaceful transfer of power since 1944.
National elections are largely free and fair. Since 2017, Liberia has witnessed peaceful transitions of power between the two major political parties, the Unity Party (UP) and the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), each having a realistic chance to win. However, the incumbent party, at times, benefits from unfair campaign advantages. The National Election Commission (NEC) was able to successfully manage the 2023 elections, though struggled somewhat to enforce accountability on campaign finance.
Independent media, political leaders, journalists, and regular people are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the government. Liberia has a vibrant media and civil society environment. The government’s decriminalization of defamation laws against the president and public officials in 2019 led to a shift from previous patterns of media persecution. Protests are largely able to occur peacefully, though they can at times become violent.
Institutions are largely independent and serve as effective checks on the government. The judiciary checks the electoral process and reform attempts by the executive. The government largely holds officials accountable, although corruption remains a pervasive issue. This can also contribute to dysfunction within the political system, such as in the political crisis caused by the House of Representatives from 2024 to 2025.
In Liberia, national elections are largely free and fair. There have been peaceful transfers of power between the two major parties since 2017. The incumbent party benefited from unfair campaign advantages during the 2023 election, though it did not prevent the opposition party from winning.
The government has not unfairly barred a real, mainstream opposition party or candidate from competing in elections. Since the end of the civil war in 2003, Liberia has held five regular elections before the country’s first peaceful transfer of power occurred in 2017 from the then-ruling Unity Party (UP) to the main opposition party, Congress for Democratic Change (CDC). The 2023 election was the first election to be fully organized by the country’s government with no assistance or financial support from international parties since the end of the civil war. President George Weah of the CDC ran for reelection against his second-time opponent and UP opposition leader, Joseph Boakai. Weah conceded defeat to current President Boakai in what is believed to be the closest runoff election in the country’s history, with just a 2% margin of victory.
Weah and the CDC enjoyed unfair campaign advantages during the 2023 elections. The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission to Liberia reported that the incumbent Weah employed a “disproportionate” use of state resources, including official buildings and vehicles for campaign purposes. However, this did not prevent the opposition party UP and its presidential candidate Boakai from winning the election, albeit by a close margin.
The government has not seriously undermined independent electoral oversight. The NEC fully administered its first election in 2023 without the support of the UN Mission to Liberia (UNMIL), which previously led the administration of elections in 2005, 2011, and 2017. While the NEC was largely regarded as successful in managing the 2023 elections, budgetary constraints and a lack of technical and administrative capacities contributed to the body’s lack of oversight on campaign finance regulations, allowing the CDC to enjoy unfair campaign advantages.
In Liberia, independent media, political leaders, civil society organizations, and regular people are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the government and its officials. The country has a diverse range of media that regularly criticize the government. The 2019 Kamara Abdullai Kamara (KAK) Act of Press Freedom decriminalized previously abused sedition and speech laws to allow for a freer dissent landscape. The government has largely allowed peaceful protests without interference, though at times used tear gas to disperse protestors.
The government has not heavily manipulated media coverage in its favor. With over 50 newspapers, 130 radio stations, and a number of television stations, Liberia has a dynamic and vibrant media environment. However, while the 2023 election provided a favorable environment for independent media operations, the state-owned broadcaster Liberia Broadcasting System, which operates radio station ELBC and television channel Liberia National Television (LNTV), allocated over 70% of airtime to the ruling CDC at the time.
The Boakai government has not unfairly shut down a major, dissenting organization. Following his election in 2023, Boakai pledged to create a more inclusive and democratic environment, including for the media. This followed the shutdown of several media outlets during the Weah administration, including Spoon Network, the largest independent media organization in Liberia, just months before the 2023 election. However, the country’s Sixth Judicial Circuit Court mandated its reopening shortly after.
The government has not seriously intimidated independent, dissenting media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, or members of the general public, or otherwise seriously and unfairly obstructed their work. In 2019, Liberia decriminalized speech offenses and repealed sedition laws targeting the president and public officials through the KAK Act of Press Freedom. This marked a significant shift from the previous pattern of media persecution, where fines, arbitrary closures, and lengthy sentences were imposed on media outlets and journalists for publishing content considered defamatory. For example, in 2013, Rodney Sieh, the managing editor of the Frontpage Africa newspaper, was sentenced to 5,000 years in prison following his failure to pay a fine of $1.6 million in a civil suit for defamation brought by then Minister of Agriculture, Chris Toe. Sieh was later pardoned after he apologized as part of a deal for the case.
The Boakai government has not seriously or unfairly repressed protests or gatherings. The general public is able to voice their frustration and take part in anti-government demonstrations. For example, the highly publicized “Enough is Enough” protest, which was held on July 15, 2025, and called for improved governance and systemic reform, was largely peaceful and was not hindered by the government. However, the December 18, 2024, “White Tuesday” anti-government protest resulted in several protestors being injured as police dispersed them with tear gas.
Institutions are independent and largely serve as effective checks on the government. The highest court of Liberia, the Supreme Court, serves as a check on the government for election disputes. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government hold officials accountable. However, Liberia struggles with corruption, which can lead to dysfunction within the government.
Courts largely serve as a check on the government’s attempts to make the electoral process significantly skewed in its favor. In September 2023, the UP successfully filed a case against the NEC in the Supreme Court to compel it to publish the Final Registration Roll of all certified voters in the country after it failed to do so 30 days before the election, as required by the Revised National Elections Law. In December 2017, the Supreme Court put the presidential run-off between Weah and Boaki on hold to allow the NEC to examine complaints on alleged voting irregularities filed by the Liberty Party (LP) before the runoff election could continue. The Supreme Court acknowledged there were instances of fraud, though there was no evidence of the fraud being widespread or impactful on the election. It ordered the NEC to take corrective measures and proceed with the election within the timeframe outlined in the Constitution.
The government has not subjected executive institutions to reforms that abolish or seriously weaken their independence or operational effectiveness. In 2024, Boakai attempted to replace the heads of multiple government agencies: the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), the Governance Commission, the Liberia Lottery Authority, the Liberia National Identification Registry, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in apparent violation of their tenured positions. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the Boakai administration violated the individuals’ due process, and therefore, they would retain their positions. The exception to the case was the head of the EPA, Wilson Tarpeh, who was Acting Executive Director at the time and therefore not subject to tenure protections.
The judicial, legislative, and executive institutions have not frequently and unfairly failed to hold government officials accountable. While corruption in Liberia is widespread and sometimes results in a lack of accountability for certain officials, particularly for those involved in past war crimes, the branches of government often check one another. In February 2025, Boakai suspended 457 government officials who did not declare their assets to the country’s Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) within the institution’s deadline, as part of the president’s anti-corruption drive. In 2023, Gloria Maya Musu-Scott, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court and member of Boakai’s legal team, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her niece. In 2019, the Senate voted to remove Supreme Court Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh from the bench, finding him guilty of official misconduct after he issued a writ in favor of petroleum dealers.
However, issues like corruption can result in dysfunction within the Liberian government. In 2024, there was a political crisis due to a legislative impasse within the House of Representatives, one of the two bodies of parliament. The impasse was triggered by opposition leaders accusing CDC member and House Speaker Fonati Koffa of corruption in his previous role of deputy speaker, and resulted in their boycotting of legislative sessions. This deadlock led to the “White Tuesday” protests as well as the burning of the Parliament building on December 18, 2024, by unknown actors. Koffa took the case of his removal to the Supreme Court, which first ruled on December 5, 2024, that the legislative crisis was “Ultra Vires” or beyond the scope of the courts. The Supreme Court later issued a ruling that reaffirmed Koffa’s role as Speaker, though he chose to resign shortly after in May 2025.
HRF classifies Liberia as democratic.
Founded by former slaves and free-born African Americans from the United States, Liberia achieved its independence as a state through a referendum in 1847, more than a century before the rest of Africa. Between 1980 and 2003, the country underwent two consecutive civil wars that resulted in 150,000 to 250,000 deaths and the displacement of half the country’s population. Although Liberia still grapples with corruption and a lack of accountability for past war crimes, the country has progressively evolved into a democracy with strengthened institutions and governance processes. Liberia is now a constitutional republic with a bicameral national assembly and a democratically elected president, as enshrined in the Constitution. Liberia’s 2017 election was recognized by international observers as the country’s first peaceful transfer of power since 1944.
National elections are largely free and fair. Since 2017, Liberia has witnessed peaceful transitions of power between the two major political parties, the Unity Party (UP) and the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), each having a realistic chance to win. However, the incumbent party, at times, benefits from unfair campaign advantages. The National Election Commission (NEC) was able to successfully manage the 2023 elections, though struggled somewhat to enforce accountability on campaign finance.
Independent media, political leaders, journalists, and regular people are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the government. Liberia has a vibrant media and civil society environment. The government’s decriminalization of defamation laws against the president and public officials in 2019 led to a shift from previous patterns of media persecution. Protests are largely able to occur peacefully, though they can at times become violent.
Institutions are largely independent and serve as effective checks on the government. The judiciary checks the electoral process and reform attempts by the executive. The government largely holds officials accountable, although corruption remains a pervasive issue. This can also contribute to dysfunction within the political system, such as in the political crisis caused by the House of Representatives from 2024 to 2025.
In Liberia, national elections are largely free and fair. There have been peaceful transfers of power between the two major parties since 2017. The incumbent party benefited from unfair campaign advantages during the 2023 election, though it did not prevent the opposition party from winning.
The government has not unfairly barred a real, mainstream opposition party or candidate from competing in elections. Since the end of the civil war in 2003, Liberia has held five regular elections before the country’s first peaceful transfer of power occurred in 2017 from the then-ruling Unity Party (UP) to the main opposition party, Congress for Democratic Change (CDC). The 2023 election was the first election to be fully organized by the country’s government with no assistance or financial support from international parties since the end of the civil war. President George Weah of the CDC ran for reelection against his second-time opponent and UP opposition leader, Joseph Boakai. Weah conceded defeat to current President Boakai in what is believed to be the closest runoff election in the country’s history, with just a 2% margin of victory.
Weah and the CDC enjoyed unfair campaign advantages during the 2023 elections. The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission to Liberia reported that the incumbent Weah employed a “disproportionate” use of state resources, including official buildings and vehicles for campaign purposes. However, this did not prevent the opposition party UP and its presidential candidate Boakai from winning the election, albeit by a close margin.
The government has not seriously undermined independent electoral oversight. The NEC fully administered its first election in 2023 without the support of the UN Mission to Liberia (UNMIL), which previously led the administration of elections in 2005, 2011, and 2017. While the NEC was largely regarded as successful in managing the 2023 elections, budgetary constraints and a lack of technical and administrative capacities contributed to the body’s lack of oversight on campaign finance regulations, allowing the CDC to enjoy unfair campaign advantages.
In Liberia, independent media, political leaders, civil society organizations, and regular people are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the government and its officials. The country has a diverse range of media that regularly criticize the government. The 2019 Kamara Abdullai Kamara (KAK) Act of Press Freedom decriminalized previously abused sedition and speech laws to allow for a freer dissent landscape. The government has largely allowed peaceful protests without interference, though at times used tear gas to disperse protestors.
The government has not heavily manipulated media coverage in its favor. With over 50 newspapers, 130 radio stations, and a number of television stations, Liberia has a dynamic and vibrant media environment. However, while the 2023 election provided a favorable environment for independent media operations, the state-owned broadcaster Liberia Broadcasting System, which operates radio station ELBC and television channel Liberia National Television (LNTV), allocated over 70% of airtime to the ruling CDC at the time.
The Boakai government has not unfairly shut down a major, dissenting organization. Following his election in 2023, Boakai pledged to create a more inclusive and democratic environment, including for the media. This followed the shutdown of several media outlets during the Weah administration, including Spoon Network, the largest independent media organization in Liberia, just months before the 2023 election. However, the country’s Sixth Judicial Circuit Court mandated its reopening shortly after.
The government has not seriously intimidated independent, dissenting media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, or members of the general public, or otherwise seriously and unfairly obstructed their work. In 2019, Liberia decriminalized speech offenses and repealed sedition laws targeting the president and public officials through the KAK Act of Press Freedom. This marked a significant shift from the previous pattern of media persecution, where fines, arbitrary closures, and lengthy sentences were imposed on media outlets and journalists for publishing content considered defamatory. For example, in 2013, Rodney Sieh, the managing editor of the Frontpage Africa newspaper, was sentenced to 5,000 years in prison following his failure to pay a fine of $1.6 million in a civil suit for defamation brought by then Minister of Agriculture, Chris Toe. Sieh was later pardoned after he apologized as part of a deal for the case.
The Boakai government has not seriously or unfairly repressed protests or gatherings. The general public is able to voice their frustration and take part in anti-government demonstrations. For example, the highly publicized “Enough is Enough” protest, which was held on July 15, 2025, and called for improved governance and systemic reform, was largely peaceful and was not hindered by the government. However, the December 18, 2024, “White Tuesday” anti-government protest resulted in several protestors being injured as police dispersed them with tear gas.
Institutions are independent and largely serve as effective checks on the government. The highest court of Liberia, the Supreme Court, serves as a check on the government for election disputes. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government hold officials accountable. However, Liberia struggles with corruption, which can lead to dysfunction within the government.
Courts largely serve as a check on the government’s attempts to make the electoral process significantly skewed in its favor. In September 2023, the UP successfully filed a case against the NEC in the Supreme Court to compel it to publish the Final Registration Roll of all certified voters in the country after it failed to do so 30 days before the election, as required by the Revised National Elections Law. In December 2017, the Supreme Court put the presidential run-off between Weah and Boaki on hold to allow the NEC to examine complaints on alleged voting irregularities filed by the Liberty Party (LP) before the runoff election could continue. The Supreme Court acknowledged there were instances of fraud, though there was no evidence of the fraud being widespread or impactful on the election. It ordered the NEC to take corrective measures and proceed with the election within the timeframe outlined in the Constitution.
The government has not subjected executive institutions to reforms that abolish or seriously weaken their independence or operational effectiveness. In 2024, Boakai attempted to replace the heads of multiple government agencies: the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), the Governance Commission, the Liberia Lottery Authority, the Liberia National Identification Registry, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in apparent violation of their tenured positions. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the Boakai administration violated the individuals’ due process, and therefore, they would retain their positions. The exception to the case was the head of the EPA, Wilson Tarpeh, who was Acting Executive Director at the time and therefore not subject to tenure protections.
The judicial, legislative, and executive institutions have not frequently and unfairly failed to hold government officials accountable. While corruption in Liberia is widespread and sometimes results in a lack of accountability for certain officials, particularly for those involved in past war crimes, the branches of government often check one another. In February 2025, Boakai suspended 457 government officials who did not declare their assets to the country’s Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) within the institution’s deadline, as part of the president’s anti-corruption drive. In 2023, Gloria Maya Musu-Scott, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court and member of Boakai’s legal team, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her niece. In 2019, the Senate voted to remove Supreme Court Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh from the bench, finding him guilty of official misconduct after he issued a writ in favor of petroleum dealers.
However, issues like corruption can result in dysfunction within the Liberian government. In 2024, there was a political crisis due to a legislative impasse within the House of Representatives, one of the two bodies of parliament. The impasse was triggered by opposition leaders accusing CDC member and House Speaker Fonati Koffa of corruption in his previous role of deputy speaker, and resulted in their boycotting of legislative sessions. This deadlock led to the “White Tuesday” protests as well as the burning of the Parliament building on December 18, 2024, by unknown actors. Koffa took the case of his removal to the Supreme Court, which first ruled on December 5, 2024, that the legislative crisis was “Ultra Vires” or beyond the scope of the courts. The Supreme Court later issued a ruling that reaffirmed Koffa’s role as Speaker, though he chose to resign shortly after in May 2025.
