AGRICULTURE THAT FEEDS OUR PEOPLE AND DRIVES OUR ECONOMIC GROWTH

• Create modern “food production zones” in each of the 15 counties to ensure progress towards national self-sufficiency in producing our staple food (rice) and growing crops we can export.
• Establish four export-focused cash crop production zones throughout the country based on the best use of geographic and soil content analyses.
• Introduce a “buy what you grow” program to encourage farming and increase food availability in markets. We will increase farmers’ confidence to invest in growing larger farm yields.
• Institute a low-interest (and long-term) loan assistance program tailored to SME farmers and cooperatives.

AN OPEN, HONEST GOVERNMENT THAT LEADS BY EXAMPLE

• Constitute a gender-inclusive Cabinet comprised of capable and honest Liberians.
• Mandate all government officials and civil servants to complete asset declarations and financial disclosures annually.
• Rebuild the institutional capacity of the procurement and revenues offices and institute a “reasonable purchase” policy for all government officials and civil servants.
• Decrease recurring expenses unrelated to health, education, and workforce development.
• Eliminate government expenditure waste by restricting luxury car purchases, limiting business-class travel, and minimizing the use of discretionary funds for items such as fuel coupons.
• Hire internationally-recognized firms to audit government transactions (and publicly share reports) to support accountable and transparent government practices and to expose where deficiencies exist.
• Establish an independent Anticorruption Court with specialized judges to adjudicate corruption cases.
• Reform laws to impose mandatory jail time and restitution for anyone guilty of stealing government resources.
• Provide a “hotline” for all incoming foreign investors to report any request for bribes or corrupt practices.

HEALTHCARE YOU WILL WANT TO RECEIVE

• Turn John F. Kennedy Hospital (the nation’s largest) and Tappita Hospital into two of the most regionally referred and teaching hospitals in West Africa by investing 150 million dollars over two years. Liberians should not have to leave their own country to receive proper medical care.
• Establish a modern (and state-of-the-art) clinic in every one of Liberia’s 73 districts through joint public-private partnerships (with subsidized treatment for the poor).
• Conduct recertification of all hospitals and clinics around the country and close down establishments that do not meet minimum standards.
• Conduct recertification and licensing of all doctors and nurses. Doctors and nurses who do not pass must participate in a six-month training course to be eligible for a re-evaluation.
• Continue to train and increase the number of community health workers throughout our rural areas.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND ROADS

• Connect all county capitals with paved roads within the first six years.
• Ensure that every county establishes proper “maintenance” hubs with equipment and technical know-how to effectively maintain their roads, public schools, and health facilities.
• Expand the size of the Army Corps of Engineers, which will lead the building or rebuilding of community infrastructure projects such as farm-to-market roads, community clinics, and schools.

HOUSING AND LAND RIGHTS TO PROTECT/PROMOTE LAWFUL OWNERSHIP & BUSINESS INVESTMENT

• Establish a mortgage-lending program to spur national growth through infrastructure development and increased homeownership.
• Build low-cost housing estates so Liberians can move out of slums without running water, proper sanitation, or electricity.
• Implement and enforce requirements that the Land Commission review/register/validate all public and private land sales throughout the country.

EDUCATION FOR TODAY AND THE FUTURE

• Triple the current budget for early childhood education and invest in teacher training, school feeding programs, and infrastructure development.
• Institute annual training/refresher courses for all teachers from grades one through six, with periodic educator re-certification requirements.
• Increase technical and vocational training in all high schools. All graduating seniors will receive training and business skills development in carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, and masonry. These skills will not only serve to build our nation but will empower the entrepreneurial spirit of the next generation.
• Create a state-of-the-art, merit-based school for gifted students that is tuition and boarding free. We intend to nurture the best and brightest students in our society to lead our country’s growth into the future.

EMPOWERING LIBERIAN WOMEN

• Invest in a dedicated fund for women empowerment to spur increased lending for homeownership, entrepreneurship, and financial independence.
• Support expansion of programs that connect women to farmers, business owners, and entrepreneurs to build inclusive markets that create new opportunities for them.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS – MAKING IT EASIER FOR THE WORLD TO VISIT LIBERIA

• Implement a visa-on-arrival policy to increase tourism, trade and development, and easy access to visitors.
• Conduct yearly economic deliverables/objectives reviews with each bilateral partner to foster more robust trade and industry exchanges and grow our private sector.
• Improve the effective delivery of services to our citizens abroad by establishing regional offices to replace/reduce the number of understaffed, underperforming embassies worldwide.

HOUSING

• Create a mortgage scheme (that currently does not exist) to spur national growth and development through infrastructure development and home ownership.
• Build low-cost housing estates – ensuring that hundreds of thousands of Liberians move out of the slums, which have no access to running water, proper sanitation, or electricity.

JOB CREATION AND THE ECONOMY

• Establish at least one modern factory in each of Liberia’s districts to promote targeted employment and value addition.
• Implement policies that encourage continuous investment in new productive capabilities and toward higher-value-added activities for exports. We will focus on at least two natural resources (iron ore, gold, timber, diamond, natural rubber, etc.)
• Work with the Banking sector to decrease their perception of private and business loans in Liberia as “high risk.” We expect to lower lending rates (currently as high as 17%), which will provide start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses with much-needed capital.
• In order to grow the private sector in a sustainable way, we will limit the number of civil servants and government employees by providing severance packages and, more importantly, access to business skills training and low-interest loan options to ensure private sector growth.

SECURITY

• Institute an annual retraining policy for all police officers.
• Expand benefits for all police, immigration, military/paramilitary officers, and their immediate families, including health, human capacity, and educational appropriations and incentives.

ENERGY

• Initiate a nationwide renewable energy program to for hundreds of villages and towns (and millions of citizens) currently excluded from the national grid electricity plan. This will be done by purchasing 1 million individualized solar kits for rural areas outside of the national grid.

WATER & SANITATION

• Reinvest in WASH facilities to support our ambitious objective of making Monrovia (home to a third of Liberia’s population) one of the top 10 cleanest African cities within six years.
• Ensure every county capital builds the infrastructure for pipe-bore and safe drinking water.