Partly True; Selekpoh Claim About Mano, Gio Population

By Uriah Suah, Nimba Fellow

Claim: "The Mano people make up 7% and the Gio people 8.5 percent of Liberia’s total population."

Source: Former  Nimba senatorial candidate Armstrong Gobac Selekpoh

Verdict: Partly true

Full Text: Armstrong Gobac Selekpoh is aspiring for the senatorial seat in Nimba. 

He had participated in two previous elections (2017 and 2023) and lost to Joseph Somwarbi and the late Prince Yormie Johnson, both in the representative and Senate elections. 

Making an  appearance (51:54 minutes) on the March 11, 2025, edition of the RKFM Breakfast Show (news magazine program) on Radio Kergheamahn, Selekpoh informed the audience that the Mano tribe constitutes 7 percent of Liberia's total population, while the Gio tribe makes up 8.5 percent of the entire population of Nimba county.

 The radio station, located in Ganta City, Nimba County, covers parts of Bong County, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast.

The current contested seat is due to the death of Prince Johnson in December 2024. 

Verification: TSM reviewed the 2022 Liberia Population and Housing Census report published by the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), along with the  2008 report.   

The Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) was established by an act enacted by the National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA) and approved by the Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) on July 22, 2004. 

The Act is known as “The Liberian Code of Laws Revised, As Amended, By Adding Thereto A New Chapter 50A, and as indicated in Section 50A.1, its short title is known and cited as the “National Statistics and Geo-Information Act.”

In December 2022, LISGIS successfully conducted the fifth Population and Housing Census, from which a provisional result of 5.2 million people was estimated to be living in Liberia. 

According to page  46 of the 2022 census report, under section 3.1.5, Ethnicity and Disability, specifically Figure 3.1.12, Percentage Distribution of the Population by Ethnic Group in Liberia, the Gio tribe constitutes 7.9 percent of Liberia’s total population, while the Mano tribe accounts for 7.2 percent

Additionally, the 2008 Liberia Population and Housing Census reported that the Gio population was 276,293 (8%), while the Mano population stood at 273,249 (7.9%).

The population and housing census is the principal mechanism for collecting essential statistics on population dynamics and housing conditions that are required for socioeconomic development and evidence-based decision-making. 

Conclusion: Based on a comprehensive review of existing data from the 2008 and 2022 census reports, Mr. Armstrong Gobac Selekpoh's statement is partly true. 

However, the figures he cited in the interview do not match the official data. His claim of 7 percent for the Mano and 8.5 percent for the Gio differs slightly from the LISGIS 2022 report, which states 7.2 percent for the Mano and 7.9 percent for the Gio. 

The figures are closer to the 2008 census, which recorded the Gio at 8 percent and the Mano at 7.9 percent.