By James T. Brooks
MONROVIA — Nimba County District #7 Representative Musa Hassan Bility has asked House Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon to summon the managing director of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation to explain a widely circulated claim that 76 percent of Liberians now have access to safe drinking water. If accurate, the figure would mark one of the country’s most significant development milestones in recent memory. Bility requested a written communication to Speaker Koon on Tuesday, calling on the plenary to invite LWSC Managing Director Mohammed Ali to deliver a comprehensive report on the basis of the statistics, which were reportedly published on Ali’s official Facebook page.
Applied to Liberia’s estimated population of 5.5 million, the figure implies that more than 4 million citizens currently benefit from safe drinking water services nationwide. This claim has sparked considerable public discussion given the visible water access challenges that persist in communities across the country. Representative Bility said lawmakers have a responsibility to understand how the figure was derived and whether it reflects conditions on the ground. While such a declaration, if accurate, would represent significant national progress and a major achievement for the country, Bility noted that it is important for the House of Representatives to fully understand the basis, methodology, and geographic distribution of these statistics.
The lawmaker was careful to frame the request as a demand for clarity rather than an outright challenge to the numbers. He stated that the communication is not intended to dispute the figures presented by the Managing Director, but rather seeks to ensure that the people’s representatives are properly informed so that they may accurately communicate national progress and development realities to their respective constituents and the Liberian people at large. The lawmaker highlighted ongoing issues in communities where residents still struggle to access clean and reliable drinking water, despite continuous government and donor-supported efforts—a situation many Liberians say sharply contrasts with the figures cited by the water corporation.
If the plenary acts on the request, Managing Director Ali would be expected to appear before lawmakers and present the methodology and data sources used to determine the 76 percent coverage figure. He would also be required to provide a county-by-county and district-level breakdown identifying communities and populations with access to safe drinking water, as well as the specific locations and facilities currently offering these services and the standards used to define what qualifies as safe drinking water access. Furthermore, lawmakers would expect Ali to address the operational challenges the sector is currently facing and outline the corporation’s plans for expanding coverage nationwide.
The request arrives amid growing public scrutiny over basic social services in Liberia, particularly water, sanitation, and electricity access in rural areas and densely populated urban communities. Outside Monrovia, many households continue to depend on hand pumps, creeks, and community wells for their daily water needs. Successive governments and international partners have invested millions of dollars in improving water infrastructure across the country, but service delivery gaps continue to exist in many parts of Liberia, fueling skepticism about national coverage statistics whenever they are publicly reported. If plenary approves the request, Mohammed Ali could be summoned before lawmakers in the coming days to publicly explain the corporation’s data and outline ongoing efforts to expand access to potable water across the country.
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