When large portions of the country often slip into near isolation during the intensification of the rainy season, the long-standing road infrastructure crisis often returns to the center of national debate. With the exception of the past two years, mud-choked corridors, washed-out dirt roads, and severed links between counties become familiar scenes, reinforcing a painful reality-for many Liberians, movement, trade, and access to basic services remain seasonal privileges rather than guaranteed rights.
The seasonal paralysis has revived debate about whether the country's road crisis is driven more by lack of money or by deeper failures in governance and institutional management.
Former Manager of the National Road Fund of Liberia (NRF), Mr. Boniface D. Satu, has weighed decisively into the discussion, arguing that Liberia's road failures are less about financing and more about how roads are governed, maintained, and managed.
Speaking with journalists via mobile phone from the United States on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, Satu said the persistent framing of Liberia's road crisis as a financing or construction problem misses the deeper, structural causes.
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"The issue with road projects in Liberia is not financing alone," Satu said. "It is fundamentally about governance, institutional discipline, and the quality of leadership overseeing these projects."
The country's road network remains dominated by laterite (dirt) roads, particularly outside Monrovia. During the dry season, many of these routes are barely passable; during the rains, they become treacherous or completely impassable. Counties such as Rivercess, Gbarpolu, Grand Kru, Sinoe, and parts of Lofa and Nimba often experience weeks of isolation when bridges collapse and dirt roads dissolve into mud.
The consequences are severe. Agricultural produce rots on farms because it cannot reach markets. Health emergencies become life-threatening when ambulances cannot pass. School attendance drops, prices of basic goods rise, and social cohesion weakens as communities feel abandoned by the state.
Successive governments have acknowledged the problem and invested millions of dollars in road construction and rehabilitation, often with donor support. Yet the same roads frequently fail within a few rainy seasons, raising persistent questions about sustainability.
Mr. Satu's newly released white paper, "Financing Liberia's Road Infrastructure: From Budget Dependency to a Sustainable National Road Economy," challenges conventional explanations for this cycle of failure.
"Liberia's persistent road infrastructure challenges are often discussed as failures of construction capacity or project execution," he explained. "But in reality, the crisis is rooted in financing structures and weak institutional arrangements, not technical shortcomings."
Drawing on the country's post-conflict experience and international best practices, Satu argues that Liberia's heavy reliance on annual national budget appropriations has produced chronic under-maintenance of roads. Maintenance, he noted, is often sacrificed when budgets tighten, allowing assets to deteriorate rapidly.
"When road maintenance depends entirely on annual budget allocations, predictability is lost," he said. "That uncertainty leads to deferred maintenance, weakened planning, and ultimately the destruction of road assets that taxpayers have already paid for."
According to Satu, this pattern explains why newly constructed dirt and paved roads alike deteriorate so quickly under rainfall and heavy use.
While Satu's governance-focused argument has resonated with many policy experts, others caution against underplaying Liberia's real financing constraints. Liberia's fiscal space remains limited, competing demands on the national budget are intense, and donor funding for infrastructure has declined compared to the immediate postwar years.
Road construction costs are also high due to difficult terrain, long distances, and weak domestic construction capacity. In remote areas, even routine maintenance can be expensive and logistically complex.
However, critics concede that weak governance often magnifies these financial challenges. Poor project sequencing, inadequate supervision, political interference, and the absence of enforceable maintenance regimes frequently undermine value for money.
The governance gap becomes most visible during the rainy season. Dirt roads, which make up the majority of Liberia's network, require continuous grading, drainage clearing, and spot repairs. Without routine maintenance, rainfall quickly renders them unusable.
The result is a recurring economic slowdown. Transport costs spike, traders reduce activity, and rural economies grind to a halt. Businesses factor seasonal isolation into their planning, discouraging long-term investment in agriculture, mining, and tourism.
In this sense, Liberia's road problem is not only an infrastructure issue but a structural brake on economic growth and national integration.
Boakai Government's Road Agenda
Road construction and connectivity form a central pillar of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai's development agenda. Since taking office, the administration has repeatedly emphasized infrastructure as a foundation for economic growth, national cohesion, and post-conflict recovery.
The government has prioritized the rehabilitation and construction of key corridors linking county capitals, agricultural belts, and mining zones. Ongoing efforts include expanding all-weather road projects, improving drainage systems to withstand heavy rainfall, strengthening bridges, and seeking greater coordination with development partners to finance strategic road links.
President Boakai has consistently framed roads not merely as physical assets but as drivers of opportunity and inclusion. His administration has also signaled interest in reforming road governance, including improving maintenance planning and enhancing the role of institutions responsible for road asset management.
However, the end of the recent rainy season has underscored how much remains to be done. Many newly rehabilitated dirt roads have already deteriorated, reinforcing Satu's argument that construction without sustainable maintenance frameworks yields limited long-term benefits.
A "Road Economy" Approach
Mr. Satu's paper proposes moving Liberia away from what he calls a "budget dependency model" toward a sustainable national road economy built on three pillars: predictable and dedicated road financing mechanisms; stronger institutions for asset management and routine maintenance; and governance systems that link engineering standards with long-term economic planning.
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"Without stable financing mechanisms, institutions cannot plan effectively, contractors cannot invest confidently, and accountability becomes blurred," he said.
He pointed to countries that have adopted user-based road funds and performance-driven maintenance systems, where road users contribute transparently to upkeep, reducing long-term costs and asset loss.
"Road development cannot be treated as a series of disconnected projects," Satu stressed. "It must be managed as a long-term economic asset supported by sound financial systems and disciplined governance."
Satu's intervention adds urgency to an already heated national conversation. With climate change intensifying rainfall patterns and road failures becoming more frequent, the cost of inaction is rising.
While financing constraints remain real, Liberia's experience suggests that money alone cannot solve the road crisis without governance reform. As another rainy season exposes the same vulnerabilities, policymakers face a stark choice: continue rebuilding the same roads again and again or overhaul the systems that govern how roads are financed, maintained, and protected.
"Liberia must move away from short-term budget thinking and embrace a resilient, economically grounded road infrastructure framework," Satu warned. "The science exists, the policy tools are known, and the cost of inaction is simply too high."
For millions of Liberians who are often stranded by mud and neglect, that debate is no longer academic -- it is a matter of access, dignity, and national survival.
