Liberia: Boakai’s Inner Circle Splits Over Re-Enacted Ports Regulatory Act

Monrovia — Intense, high-level deliberations are underway at the Executive Mansion as President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. weighs whether to veto–again–the re-enacted Liberia Sea and Inland Ports Regulatory Act, exposing a sharp divide within his inner circle and placing the administration in a state of political and legal ambivalence.

FrontPage Africa has reliably learned that senior officials are split over the fate of the legislation, which the President earlier vetoed over what he described as serious legal, constitutional, and regulatory deficiencies. Lawmakers subsequently re-enacted the bill and forwarded it to the President for assent, setting the stage for a renewed confrontation between the Executive and the Legislature.

Sources familiar with the discussions say Justice Minister and Attorney General, Cllr. Oswald Tweh, has again advised President Boakai to reject the bill, maintaining that lawmakers failed to cure the defects outlined in the President’s original veto message.

By contrast, the President’s Legal Adviser, Bushuben Keita, is reportedly urging caution, warning against another veto that could deepen tensions with legislative leaders determined to see the law enacted. A senior government source told FrontPage Africa that Keita has encouraged the President to explore alternative responses that would avoid antagonizing the Legislature and further straining Executive-Legislative relations.

The Executive Mansion is yet to respond to the developing situation. Analysts say the internal disagreement underscores a broader struggle within the administration as President Boakai balances strict legal objections against the political risks of reopening a standoff with a Legislature intent on pushing sweeping port reforms into law.

What’s at Stake

The disputed legislation comprises two interrelated measures: the Liberia Sea and Inland Ports Regulatory Authority Act of 2025 and the Liberia Sea and Inland Ports Decentralization and Modernization Act of 2025.

Taken together, the Acts repeal the National Port Authority (NPA) Act, dissolve the NPA, establish four autonomous seaports in Monrovia, Buchanan, Greenville, and Harper, and create a new Liberia Sea and Inland Ports Regulatory Authority (LSRA) with broad oversight powers over port operations and maritime activities nationwide.

The bills were introduced in the Senate by Grand Bassa County Senator and President Pro-Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence and passed by both chambers before being forwarded to the President.

Invoking Article 35 of the Constitution, President Boakai returned the bills to the Legislature, warning that they were legally and operationally inseparable and that passing them without resolving fundamental defects would create fragmentation, uncertainty, and institutional instability in the maritime sector.

Attorney General’s Warning

The President’s decision was anchored in a legal opinion issued on July 14, 2025, by Justice Minister Tweh, who acknowledged the Legislature’s authority to enact laws but cautioned that the proposed restructuring of Liberia’s maritime sector represented one of the most far-reaching institutional changes since independence.

Tweh warned that the Regulatory Authority Act departs sharply from domestic governance norms and international best practices by concentrating regulatory, oversight, and operational functions within a single institution–an arrangement he said undermines regulatory independence and creates inherent conflicts of interest.

He further cautioned that the Legislature acted unilaterally on reforms of enormous magnitude, excluding the Executive from the process and depriving lawmakers of critical executive expertise on port operations, contractual obligations, and international maritime commitments.

President Boakai echoed those concerns, warning that the new regulator’s expansive powers would significantly erode the statutory mandate of the Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA), potentially rendering it partially redundant and weakening Liberia’s compliance with international maritime obligations.

Decentralization or Centralization?

Critics of the Decentralization and Modernization Act argue that it deepens the controversy by dissolving the NPA and replacing it with four autonomous ports vested with extensive financial and administrative independence, without adequate transition mechanisms.

President Boakai warned that dismantling an authority with significant assets, liabilities, contracts, and workforce–within a proposed six-month transition period–could trigger legal disputes, operational disruptions, and possible violations of constitutional protections for contractual obligations.

He also pointed to internal inconsistencies in the legislation, including references to inland ports without substantive provisions addressing them.

Legislative Pushback

After receiving the vetoed bills, the Legislature tasked its relevant committees to review them. A Joint Committee chaired by Montserrado County Senator H. Saah Joseph and Sinoe County Senator Augustine Chea later informed the Senate plenary that the President’s objections were largely limited to formatting and nomenclature issues–a characterization critics say grossly understated the substance of the veto.

The Senate subsequently re-passed the bills and forwarded them again to the President for signature.

Renewed Legal Alarm

Despite the Senate’s assurances, FrontPage Africa has confirmed that the Justice Ministry has formally advised President Boakai to veto the legislation again. According to the Ministry, lawmakers’ claims that all overlapping maritime functions were removed are not supported by the statutory text.

The Ministry found that the Act still grants the proposed LSRA authority over port safety standards, implementation of International Maritime Organization (IMO) conventions, vessel inspection and certification, regulation of dangerous goods under the IMDG Code, and the acquisition and operation of port facilities–areas already covered under LiMA’s 2010 mandate.

The Justice Ministry warned that these overlapping powers risk institutional conflict, legal uncertainty, and regulatory chaos. It also flagged a fundamental conflict of interest, noting that the same agency would both operate ports and regulate port safety.

Contrary to legislative claims of decentralization, the Ministry further concluded that the law centralizes port control by transferring all major ports–Monrovia, Buchanan, Greenville, and Harper–along with their assets and liabilities, to the LSRA.

A Defining Choice

While acknowledging the Legislature’s constitutional authority to enact laws, the Justice Ministry stressed that the President’s veto power is a critical safeguard against legislation that creates operational contradictions for the Executive Branch.

With the Justice Minister urging a renewed veto and other advisers cautioning against a prolonged political standoff, President Boakai now faces a high-stakes decision that could redefine port governance–and test cohesion within his administration.

For now, the re-enacted ports law has left the Boakai administration squarely in ambivalence, with implications that reach far beyond Liberia’s docks and harbors.

By FrontPageAfrica.