-Respondents think the Country “going in wrong direction”
A report from a survey research just released in Monrovia says most Liberians have rated the performance of the CDC government as poor and they “think the country is going or somehow going in the wrong direction.”
According to the sixth perception survey report assessing citizens’ perception of the quality of governance in Liberia for 2010 released over the weekend by Naymote Partners for Democratic Development, a leading civil society organization,“92% percent of respondents rated the performance of managing or handling the economy as very poor and poor, 6% said fair.”
And a mere 1% said good and 1% said they don’t know.
The survey, which is generally a perception of what Liberians, particularly registered voters think about the quality of governance in Liberia and the issues they are concerned about, targeted a sample size of 3,600 (women 47% and 53% men) registered voters. They came from across 46 electoral districts within the 15 counties, which is a statistical representation of citizens’ views across the country.
“Overall, 82% of respondents think the country is going or somehow going in the wrong direction while 15% think the country is going or somehow going in the right direction. In the 2018 survey findings, 64% of respondents said the country was going in the wrong direction. The current percent (82%) represents a sharp increase in negative perceptions of the management and governance of the country. When asked about the economy, 89% of the respondents described the current economic conditions in the country as very poor or poor, as compared to 70% who described it as very poor or poor in the 2018 survey report,” according to Naymote’s latest report.
Naymote, which is headed by prominent Liberian civil society executive, Mr. Edddie Jarwolo, was established in 2001 by youth leaders and student activists to enhance democratic participation of citizens and promote political accountability of elected officials.
“Similarly, 81% of respondents (females 2,365 and males 539) rated the government performance in managing or handling the health services as very poor and poor, 15% rated the government as fair, 3%. In a similar vein, 90% (males 2,049 and females 1,172) respondents rated government performance in fighting corruption as very poor and poor, 7% rated the government performance as fair, 3% rated the government as very good and good,” the report says.
Concerning education, “37% of respondents (males 686 and females 491) rated the government performance in addressing the educational needs of citizens as very good and good. 32% of respondents which constitute 1,152 (991 females and 116 males) as fair while 30% which is 1,096 (867 females and 229 males) rated the government as poor, and 1% said don’t know.”
According to the survey report, there was a sharp reduction in citizens’ level of satisfaction with the quality of democracy in the country. 57% of the respondents said they are very satisfied or satisfied with the way democracy is working in the country, 40% said they are not satisfied while 3% said they don’t know. In the 2018 survey report, 80% of respondents said they were very satisfied and satisfied with the way democracy was working in the country.
The level of engagement between legislators and their constituents is weak. Seventy-five percent of the respondents said they have not attended any event in their district organized by their lawmakers since January 2018. Despite limited engagement with citizens, most survey respondents were satisfied with opposition legislators and opposition political leaders’ ability to hold the government accountable. 65% of the respondents said that they are very satisfied or satisfied with the way political parties are engaging and holding the ruling party accountable for the commitment to service delivery. On the other hand, 31% said they are not satisfied with the roles of the opposition political parties playing in holding the government to account
Trust in the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) has decreased. Whereas 93% of respondents in the 2018 survey who rated the AFL as the most trusted security institution only 78% of the respondents in this survey rated the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) as the most trusted or fairly trusted security agency in Liberia. Trust in the Liberia National Police (LNP) has decreased. In the 2018 survey, 75% of respondents rated the LNP as trusted and fairly trusted security institution in Liberia in the 2019 survey 56% said they trust and fairly trust Liberia National Police (LNP) while 43% said they don’t trust the LNP and 1% of the respondents don’t know.
At the same time, mistrust of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) has decreased. In the 2018 report, 72% of respondents said they did not trust the LDEA as compared to 57% of respondents in this survey.
Irrespective of gender, the general rating of the economy was poor.
According to the survey, over, 92% (males 2,121 and females 1,190) rated the performance of the government in managing or handling the economy as very poor and poor. In a similar vein, 81% (females 2,365 and males 539) rated the government’s performance in managing or handling the health services as very poor and poor and 90% (males 2,049 and females 1,172) of the respondents rated government performance in fighting corruption as very poor and poor.
This new survey comes as the CDC government of President George Manneh Weah approaches its second year in office, after taking over from former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.