-A failure proven by the House of Representatives impasse?
By Jerromie S. Walters
On Thursday, November 21, 2024, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) released its fiscal year (FY) 2025 country scorecards, which revealed that Liberia met 11 out of 20 indicators. However, the country faltered in the area of Rule of Law, alongside eight other indicators
Undoubtedly, this report coincides with growing discontent among Liberians, who are expressing their frustrations over what they perceive as a blatant disregard for the constitution and the rule of law by certain lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
Liberia’s MCC 2025 Scorecard presents a mixed bag of results. While the country achieved successes in areas such as Land Rights, Employment Opportunities, Political Rights, Civil Liberties, Control of Corruption, and Freedom of Information, these gains are overshadowed by shortcomings in Fiscal Policy, Inflation, Trade Policy, Government Effectiveness, Health Expenditures, Natural Resource Protection, Girls’ Primary Education Completion Rate, and Rule of Law.
Leading to another failure
Liberia scored just 47% with a score of 0.03, a disparity from its 2024 scorecard, which indicated a passing rate of 59% and a score of 0.11. Although the MCC 2025 Scorecard reflects events from 2024, the ongoing turmoil within the House of Representatives arguably indicates that the nation is heading to failure in the Rule of Law comes 2026.
On October 17, 2024, a faction of 47 members from the House of Representatives introduced a resolution to remove Speaker J. Fonati Koffa from his position. The resolution cited multiple allegations of misconduct, conflicts of interest, and administrative incompetence. Since then, the situation has grown, and gotten more complicated by what the “Majority Bloc” considers as removal of the Speaker and appointing a successor.
Amid these developments, there have been calls for adherence to due process regarding the Speaker’s removal, as mandated by law. Under Article 49 of the 1986 Constitution, a Speaker can only be removed through a resolution backed by a two-thirds majority of the House. Similarly, Rule 9.1 of the House’s Rules and Procedures stipulates that removal for cause also requires a two-thirds majority.
Despite these legal requirements, opposing lawmakers have disregarded the necessary protocols, making unilateral decisions that impact the entire House of Representatives. Furthermore, many were taken aback when the 2025 draft budget was reportedly commandeered by a faction within the Legislature, leading to concerns of collusion as the Executive branch engaged with them, while the Senate appeared to endorse what many Liberians view as a blatant violation of the law.
On Thursday, Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine, a prominent member of the opposition Liberty Party (LP) and former vice-presidential candidate on the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) ticket expressed concerns regarding the ongoing impasse in the House of Representatives. Cllr. Brumskine articulated a profound disconnect between the needs and desires of the populace and the actions of those in power, especially with the actions of members of the House of Representatives lately.
Highlighting the disconnect between the electorate’s desires and the actions of their lawmakers, Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine commented, “The thing I find confusing, those of us who are on ground, who are talking to people here, who are following social media and listening to the radio. There is a disjoint. A disconnect between what the people, the population claim to want and what’s happening at the Capitol. So for me, in my little understanding of democracy, we are not exercising a democracy. We are not exercising a democracy.”
The Score Card
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) scorecard is a key component in determining which countries will be selected as eligible to develop five-year grant agreements, known as compacts, in FY 2025. Of the 76 country scorecards created by MCC, 26 countries passed, and 50 countries did not. Scorecards consist of a collection of 20 independent, third-party indicators that measure a country’s policy performance in the areas of economic freedom, ruling justly, and investing in people.
MCC’s Board of Directors selects new partner countries annually in December based on policy performance as measured by the scorecard, the opportunity to reduce poverty through economic growth, and the availability of funding. Currently, MCC produces scorecards for low- and lower-middle-income countries, as classified by the World Bank.
Competitive Selection of MCC Partners
MCC uses a competitive, data-driven, and transparent process for determining where the agency invests to reduce poverty. To be considered for MCC compact funding, countries must pass at least 10 of 20 indicators, including MCC’s hard hurdles for eligibility – the Political Rights or Civil Liberties indicator, and the Control of Corruption indicator. After considering the pool of countries that pass the scorecard, MCC’s Board of Directors determines which countries are eligible to develop grant programs.
MCC’s rigorous eligibility criteria and competitive selection process create a powerful incentive for countries to reform their policies even before a program dollar is spent – referred to as “The MCC Effect.” Countries around the world are using MCC’s scorecard as a road map for policy and institutional reforms to qualify for MCC funding and identify where improvements are needed to foster economic growth, all before a single program dollar is spent.
On November 20, 2024, MCC released a paper that finds that going from failing to passing the MCC scorecard is associated with bringing 1.9 million people out of extreme poverty. This demonstrates that countries undertaking the good governance reforms associated with passing the MCC scorecard can have as great an impact on poverty reduction as if a country grew its economy by $1.2 trillion – a large level of economic growth that often takes years to achieve.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an independent U.S. government agency working to reduce global poverty through economic growth. Created in 2004, MCC provides time-limited grants and assistance to countries that meet rigorous standards for good governance, fighting corruption, and respecting democratic rights.
