The Indomitable National Youth Congress of the Alternative National Congress (INYC-ANC) has sharply criticized the government's planned rollout of a 15% Value Added Tax (VAT), warning that the policy will deepen economic hardship for Liberians already grappling with inflation, unemployment and unreliable electricity.
Presenting its First State of the Youth Report 2026 at a press conference Saturday, the opposition youth wing argued that the proposed VAT will increase the cost of living without delivering tangible social benefits.
"This is taxation without welfare, burden without benefit. It is the extraction of wealth from the poor to sustain the comfort of President Boakai and his Rescue allies," the Congress said in its report.
The youth body criticized what it described as misplaced development priorities, arguing that infrastructure should be measured by improvements in daily life rather than public displays of machinery.
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"The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) continues to leave communities in darkness, while yellow machines are paraded as symbols of progress. But what progress is it when students cannot study at night, when businesses cannot operate, and when families sit in darkness?" INYC-ANC asked. "Without these, machines become nothing but monuments to failure."
The group maintained that real development means electricity in homes, clean water, employment opportunities and financial stability for citizens.
According to the Congress, businesses are already preparing for the VAT rollout, which it says will further strain households facing rising prices.
Beyond taxation, the youth organization cited broader governance concerns, including sanitation challenges in Monrovia.
The report alleged that garbage has overtaken Central Street Cemetery and criticized the Monrovia City Corporation for what it described as attempts to conceal waste rather than remove it.
"Corruption conceals incompetence, but failure always reveals itself. Budgetary expansion continues to benefit political elites, while bread-and-butter issues -- healthcare, education, sanitation, and agriculture -- remain underfunded, even as the government boasts of self-reliance," the Congress said.
The youth wing argued that inequality continues to widen between rich and poor and accused the government of failing to address structural economic imbalances.
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"The Supreme Court has confirmed violations of several laws. Civil society organizations continue to demand investigations into police violence, yet the government responds with silence -- or worse, with force," INYC-ANC added.
It also referenced concession agreements passed by the Legislature that it said continue to drain national resources.
Framing its criticism as part of a broader mission, the Congress said it remains committed to resisting exploitation and demanding justice.
"Liberia must ask: what is the use of yellow machines and grand projects if hospitals remain closed, if women are being evicted from their homes, if children roam the streets, if garbage overwhelms our communities, and if graduates remain unemployed?" the statement read.
"True rescue requires not rhetoric, but transformation," it added.
"We must rise, not with despair, but with determination. We must organize, not with fear, but with faith. We must speak, not in whispers, but with thunder. For the people of Liberia deserve more than yellow machines; they deserve justice, dignity, and a decent life," INYC-ANC said.
