Monrovia — Ex- Finance and Development Planning Samuel D. Tweah, has expressed strong support for the Liberian Senate's decision to review the harmonization reform within the civil service.
Tweah described the review as "welcoming, timely, and important to destroying harmonization propaganda."
Tweah in a statement issued Tuesday, January 13, 2026, argued that the review was long overdue. "It is my hope the Speaker of the House of Representatives embraces this review so that the country finally understands the honest facts and truths about harmonization," Tweah said.
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He stressed that the process would "bury the lies that are still lingering and end the impossible and illusory talk about reversing it."
As the minister who presided over the harmonization reform, Tweah stated that he and his team were ready to provide information to the Senate during the review.
He also called on other key stakeholders, including Vice President Jeremiah K. Koung, Senator J. Gbleh-bo Browne, former Representatives Clarence Massaquoi and Edward Karfiah, and Senator Francis K. Dopoh, to make their contributions public.
Tweah revealed the challenges faced while implementing the reform, particularly during the planning of the public wage bill. "I am reminded of our meeting at the Farmington Hotel and of the difficulties we faced in bringing the wage bill to the goal of $296 million, which would have enabled us to reach the 1% of GDP target for public wages," Tweah said.
He recalled the Farmington meeting as a pivotal moment, dubbing it the "Farmington Consensus," where key decisions on wage adjustments and staff protection were agreed upon. "No healthcare worker or teacher should be cut as we move toward our goal," Tweah noted, highlighting the protective measures embedded in the reform.
He further stated that while healthcare workers were shielded from salary reductions, the judiciary was required to contribute its share of savings. He noted that legal mechanisms, particularly the work of Senator Francis Dopoh in drafting the National Standardization and Remuneration Act, ensured the process adhered to the law.
The former minister emphasized the transformative effect of harmonization on Liberia's civil service. "Beyond generally protecting healthcare workers, harmonization did a lot for a whole class of specific healthcare workers of different categories," he said.
Tweah cited examples, including staff at the Ganta hospital, which was donated to the Government of Liberia by then-Representative Koung. Harmonization enabled the government to take over their salaries, he noted, and credited this intervention for supporting Koung's eventual election to the Senate.
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Another example involved rural healthcare workers previously paid under the Fixed Amount Reimbursement Agreement (FARA), where the government assumed responsibility for their salaries under harmonization. "The difference is they would now have to pay taxes and social security deductions, which was not the case when they were directly paid by USAID," Tweah explained.
He also recalled that over 2,000 healthcare workers added to the payroll by President Weah in 2018 were brought under the same harmonization framework, ensuring fair taxation and social security contributions. Tweah criticized public narratives in 2023, claiming, "You harmonized our pay, we will harmonize your vote," as misleading and contrary to the facts of the reform.
Tweah called on the media and the public to verify his accounts and those of other key figures involved in harmonization. "As we go into the review, it would be interesting to watch how they answer questions on the Farmington Consensus, or about whether the pay of healthcare workers and teachers was protected," he said.- Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
