-Says Boakai Government Nearly Doubled Broadcaster’s Budget
MONROVIA/KAKATA – Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan has responded to concerns raised by Eugene Lamine Fahngon regarding alleged inadequate financial support to the Liberia Broadcasting System, asserting that the administration of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has in fact nearly doubled the institution’s national budget allocation within just over two years.
The exchange follows an emotionally charged speech delivered by Fahngon during the dedication ceremony of the newly constructed Chinese-funded LBS broadcast complex in Paynesville, where the LBS Director General publicly disclosed what he described as severe financial difficulties faced by the state broadcaster despite its transformation efforts.
Fahngon Raises Alarm Over Funding Challenges
During the ceremony, Fahngon revealed that LBS allegedly did not receive its third and fourth quarter allotments for Fiscal Year 2025, amounting to approximately US$265,888.
“The state broadcaster, the information backbone of government, was asked to function, to perform, to compete, and to deliver excellence without receiving its legally appropriated funds,” Fahngon declared before President Boakai, diplomats, lawmakers, and senior government officials.
He further argued that despite the challenges, his administration had significantly transformed the institution through infrastructure expansion, increased transmission capacity, wider county television coverage, employee welfare reforms, and regional broadcasting outreach extending into neighboring countries.
“LBS must be funded as a matter of national priority,” Fahngon emphasized. “We cannot be the nation’s voice while being treated as an afterthought in a budget.”
Finance Minister Responds
Speaking later at another public engagement attended by local chiefs and community stakeholders, Minister Ngafuan offered a different perspective, acknowledging Fahngon’s passion while defending the government’s record of support toward the national broadcaster.
“We have a very energetic Director General, my good friend Eugene Lamine Fahngon,” Ngafuan said. “I love his drive, I love his energy, because he wants to do more.”
The Finance Minister disclosed that in 2023, the budget of the Liberia Broadcasting System stood at approximately US$1.08 million, but has now increased to nearly US$1.957 million under the Boakai administration — representing almost a 100 percent increase within two years and a few months.
“In this period, LBS under the able leadership of Mr. Fahngon, President Boakai has doubled their appropriations,” Ngafuan stated. “But Fahngon wants more. And he is in his right to want more.”
Supplementary Budget Debate
Ngafuan stressed that Liberia’s growing national budget still remains insufficient to fully address the competing demands of ministries, agencies, counties, and development sectors across the country.
“The more we do, the more we must do,” the Minister explained, noting that even though Liberia’s national budget has grown from approximately US$1 billion to US$1.3 billion, government still faces enormous pressures from roads, electricity, agriculture, education, local governance, and other national priorities.
According to him, nearly every government institution continues to lobby aggressively for additional funding allocations.
“The Minister of Public Works wants more for roads. The Minister of Agriculture wants more for agriculture. The Minister of Education wants more for education,” he said.
Ngafuan also pointed out that although LBS may not have received all the funding it desired, the institution remains one of the few public entities included in the government’s supplementary budget — a privilege not extended to many other agencies.
“It is not every entity that gets supplemented in the supplementary budget,” Ngafuan emphasized. “We wanted more for LBS; we didn’t get the more for LBS, but at least they’re there.”
To illustrate his point, the Finance Minister disclosed that even the Ministry of Mines and Energy — one of the government’s major revenue-generating sectors — reportedly received no supplementary allocation.
“The Mines Minister yesterday said, ‘We’re contributing all this revenue to the budget, but we’re lacking in the supplementary budget.’ They’re not there. They have zero,” Ngafuan noted.
Earlier Praise for Finance Ministry
Interestingly, the latest public exchange contrasts sharply with comments made by Fahngon himself during a December 2025 courtesy visit to the Ministry of Finance, where he openly praised Ngafuan for supporting the broadcaster’s modernization efforts.
At the time, Fahngon reportedly described the Ministry of Finance as a critical partner in the progress achieved at LBS and commended Ngafuan’s cooperation with the institution.
The visit highlighted what was then described as a strong working relationship between the Ministry and the state broadcaster amid ongoing institutional reforms.
Transformation of the State Broadcaster
The Chinese-funded LBS complex, dedicated on May 8, is considered one of the most significant investments in Liberia’s public broadcasting infrastructure in recent decades. The facility includes modern radio and television studios, digital production systems, transmission equipment, and advanced broadcasting technologies intended to improve nationwide information dissemination.
The dedication ceremony also highlighted the increasingly prominent role the Boakai administration is placing on public communication, digital transformation, and media modernization as part of its broader ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development.
Despite the apparent differences in tone between Fahngon’s public frustrations and Ngafuan’s defense of government support, both officials appeared united on one central point: the Liberia Broadcasting System is undergoing one of the most ambitious transformations in its history — and expectations for the institution continue to rise.
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