PENNSYLVANIA, USA – A new member of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has launched a savaging critique of the Boakai administration, saying Liberians were promised a better life but have received mortuaries in place of hospitals, failing schools, and a growing drug crisis.
Henry Garneo made the statement over the weekend in Pennsylvania shortly after pledging loyalty and allegiance to the CDC at the convention of the CDC-USA Chapter. The convention, which brought together partisans and supporters from across the United States, also elected and inducted a new corps of leaders to steer the chapter’s affairs for the next two years.
Garneo, a Minnesota-based Liberian professional, said his decision to join the CDC was not a “fly by night” one, but the product of deep reflection, patriotism, and a desire for a better Liberia. What Liberians hoped for when they transferred power from the CDC to the Unity Party in 2023, he said, is now the “additive inverse” of their experience. “When we campaigned in 2023 for this system we have as a government today, we hoped for a better healthcare system, a simple improvement in our educational system, more importantly, we hoped for a secure society and a renewed, vibrant economy,” he stated.
Garneo recalled November 21, 2023, when the Unity Party was pronounced winner of the presidential election and the streets of Monrovia were flooded with green and white. “That moment still lingers in thought; when we the Liberian people thought we had ushered in a new revolution, but unbeknownst to us, it was the dawn of a regime riddled with grotesque incompetence, overinflated egos, and offensive arrogance,” he said.
In a direct attack on the administration’s performance, Garneo said: “Today, instead of the better healthcare system that we hoped for, they gave us mortuaries as hospitals; instead of an improved educational system with equipped schools and trained teachers, they gave us moribund infrastructures with undertrained and underpaid instructors; instead of a safe society with near-zero violent crimes, they are giving us a narco-state with the proliferation of drugs all across our country which is fast eating away the very future of our young people.”
He said Liberians have become weary of dancing on the current regime’s floor. “Fellow Liberians, we have danced on the floor of this regime and have gotten weary; it’s now time to find a new dance floor. One that’ll breathe in us a fresher air and renewed energy, one that’ll enthusiastically embrace and appreciate our artistry. The CDC is this new dance floor. A good dancer knows when to leave the stage,” Garneo declared. The new CDC member brings a wealth of academic and professional experience to the party. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Liberia, where he served as President of the Economics Students Association prior to his graduation in 2017, a Master of Business Administration from Rasmussen University in Bloomington, Minnesota, and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Enterprise Risk Management at Boston University.
A renowned children and women’s rights advocate since 2013, Garneo previously served as Chairperson and Coordinator of Liberia’s National Children and Youth Advisory Board and in 2015 represented African youth at the UN High-Level Summit on Education in Oslo, Norway, where he presented before then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Professionally, he started as a project officer for multilateral organizations including Plan International, Save the Children International and Defence for Children International, and later worked as a wealth management banker with Fortune 500 companies including Wells Fargo, Huntington Bank and Associated Bank. He currently works as an Anti-Money Laundering Analyst with U.S. Bank.
Garneo said while the CDC does not have a magic wand to solve all of Liberia’s problems, its six-year record shows it has a better agenda for the country than the current government. He closed with a rallying cry: “Viva CDC, Viva the masses Party, Viva Amb. Dr. George Weah! Until January 2030, it is not yet uhuru!”
1 comment
It is ironic that the poster proudly highlights his role in the campaign that removed the CDC government from power, yet fails to explain what has fundamentally changed within the party to justify now presenting it as the better option for 2029. If the CDC administration was deemed unfit to continue governing—so much so that he actively campaigned for its defeat—then it is reasonable to ask what new policy prescriptions, reforms, or leadership changes the party has introduced that would warrant a reversal of that position.
Without clearly articulating how today’s CDC differs from the one he opposed, the conclusion that the party is now the preferred choice for 2029 lacks a persuasive foundation. Political credibility requires more than a change in rhetoric; it demands evidence of meaningful policy innovation, institutional reform, and a clear acknowledgment of the shortcomings that led to the party’s electoral defeat. Until those changes are clearly demonstrated, advocating for the CDC’s return to power appears inconsistent with the very arguments that were previously used to justify its removal.