Misleading: 25kg Rice is not Sold $25 In Liberia

 Claim:   “The rice bag that you have right now, that rice bag used to be $17 in Liberia. The rice bag has gone up to $27 in JNB administration, under his leadership.” 

Source: Social Media Influencer (Suzan Gbangaye)

Verdict: Misleading 

Full Text: Suzan Gbangaye is a Liberian based in Australia. In a live podcast  on her Facebook page of  63.2K followers, she made a comparison between a 25kg bag of rice sold under the Weah administration and that of President Boakai's government. 

Suzan acknowledged an increment in the price of rice to $18.50 between March and May 2023, which she said was due to external factors, but said the price has never reached $27, as it is now under the Boakai administration. 

The claim is found at 1 minute and 12 seconds and 10 seconds of the April 14, 2025, live Facebook podcast. There are 324 reactions, 766 comments, and 35 shares as of the time of this check. 

Verification: To authenticate the post, we checked the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s official website. 

We saw the Commerce Today Monthly Critical Commodities Bulletin posted as of 15th March 2025.

The Bulletin is a product of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry developed to inform the public on key commodity inventory and pricing monthly.

The data reported is gathered based on assessment of import documents, which include a commercial invoice, assessment notice, single administrative document, clean report of findings, and targeted market sample surveys.

The below-analyzed prices are contingent on inflation, exchange rates, import duties, shipping costs, insurance, licensing and registration fees, and other administrative overheads, which may also be due to the exchange rate. 

We found that the current price of the 25kg bag of rice that is regularly sold in Liberia is US$17.25 and not US$27, as claimed. 

Our staff spoke with a few dealers at Fouani Brothers, UCI, and other dealers in Freeport. We were told the dealer is $16.75 and the wholesaler is $17.50, $18.00, or $18.50, depending on location.

Conclusion: Based on our research, Suzan misled the public.