By: Varney Dukuly
MONROVIA: On Saturday, February 4, 2023, there were dramatic scenes in Monrovia and its immediate surroundings as hundreds of thousands of supporters and sympathizers of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) of incumbent President, George Manneh Weah, graced the much-talked about petitioning ceremony of President Weah for a second six-year term.
Weah, a former global soccer celebrity, will be concluding his first six-year constitutional term of office in October this year.
Weah’s supporters have been clamoring for his reelection for what they call his significant national development achievements since his ascendancy to the Liberian Presidency.
Our roving reporters deployed in and around Monrovia, Liberia’s Capital, confirmed the surging crowds of Weah’s supporters, including young people along the principal streets, and in various communities.
Some members of the crowds were heard saying “look at our crowd. It is more than the recent ‘We’re Tiyah Suffering’ Rally organized by greedy opposition politicians in CPP.”
“For us, we love suffering, so we will re-elect our Father-President Manneh,” a group of Weah’s supporters euphemistically declared as they chanted pro-Weah regime slogans.
The governing CDC-led matchers, jubilantly moved to the famous Antoinette Tubman Stadium on UN Drive in Monrovia, Liberia’s second largest football facility which has approximately over 10,000 sitting capacity.
But as they troop, dressed in their blue and white uniforms, some observers averred that the ruling CDC maintains its strong support base among the youths.
Some of the matchers expressed their desire to officially register for the October Presidential and Legislative elections, aimed at ensuring that President Weah is re-elected in the first round of the October polls.
During what appears to be a time-focused program, as the ‘fanfare’ gained stains, Weah received what his supporters characterized as “an overwhelming mandate” from the ruling CDC to contest in the 2023 October elections.
The matchers dressed in dominant blue regalia, symbolizing their ‘Blue Revolutionary Mandate’ with inscriptions such as “Weah 2023;” “Our Leader.”
Carrying Weah’s image with berets (blue and red) on top of their heads, the mammoth crowds of CDCians chanted and danced Pro-Weah slogans, some in moving vehicles and on motorbikes.
Also, in attendance were several top public officials including Foreign Minister, D. Maxwell Saah Kemayah, who is also Dean of the Cabinet; Internal Affairs Minister, Varney Sirleaf; and a host of other Deputy and Assistant Ministers as well as Directors of autonomous agencies.
In response to his petition to seek reelection for the Liberian Presidency, Weah, in a joyous mood expressed optimism that he will win the October polls.
“I am pleased, and honored, to accept your nomination of me as your Standard Bearer, to lead our Party to seek a second six-year mandate from the Liberian People,” he said.
“I am certain that with your full support and backing, our victory is assured,” he emphasized amid revolutionary battle cries and slogans by his supporters.
The President consider the decision of other political parties to join the CDC as a step not just in the right direction but one that will culminate into more national achievements and victory for the CDC-led government.
Incumbent President Weah told his supporters at the jammed packed stadium on Lynch Street, down town Monrovia that the Party (CDC) recognizes and encourages all first-time voters who have joined the movement to use their youthful enthusiasm and to take the message of development from the CDC to the people.
“They say that yor na know nathing. They also say, I mysef, I na know nathing. So, the very fact that you are following me, who they say I na know nathing, shows that you are stupid,” Weah lamented in a Liberian parlance.
However, in Liberia’s local jargons, Weah responded to his critics that he would like to seek an answer to a particular question, aimed at knowing if his followers were stupid or clever.
“The question I want ask yor is this: Six Years Plus Six Years. That How Many Years? To this question, someone from the crowds answered: “12 Years!”
Weah: “12 years!!! Yor see… yor clever!! Yor know something! Don’t mind these people lying on you yaaa.”
The President’s acceptance of petition for his reelection has been criticized by his political opponents who believe that for his first six years in office, he achieved little or nothing, as such, he should be rejected by electorate at the polls.
In the previous 2017 Presidential and Legislative elections, Weah’s CDC won 14 of the 15 Counties of Liberia, scouting 61.5%.
To secure the 2017 victory, the then opposition CDC, at the time, rallied the support of two other parties including the erstwhile ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) of now Vice President, Jewel Howard Taylor, then two term Senator of Bong County. Jewel is the ex-wife of ex-President Charles Ghankay Taylor; and the Liberia People’s Democratic Party (LPDP), of former House Speaker, J. Alex Tyler.
Interestingly, in the ruling CDC, there is an increasing dissatisfaction among constituent members of the Coalition that won the 2017 elections.
Some executives of NPP, the second largest constituent party of the governing Coalition have been expressing the unfavorable manner in which things are unfolding as regards the appointments of public officials by President Weah since his incumbency in 2018.
Up to the weekend, NPP insiders hinted that the Party was unready to sign the latest Coalition Agreement with Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change, while the LPDP is allegedly pointing fingers at the CDC for clandestinely supporting Bomi County Senator, Morris Saytumah, for his reelection bid.
Some political analysts who are familiar with the NPP internal debacle, and also following the CDC-NPP confusion said as the petitioning ‘fanfare’ was on going, the behind the scene political tension was still high on the negotiating table.
However, with five years running since his ascendancy to power, critics and members of the opposition community continue to blame Weah’s purported poor management of the State of Affairs including security, bad governance, lawlessness, sunken education and health sectors, high costs of living due to heightening tax regime, and lack of jobs for the thousands of angry youths, many of whom have become hardcore criminals and drug addicts, among others.
The critics also mentioned the “harsh harmonization” of civil servants’ salaries, which was mainly intended to accommodate CDCians in government, particularly in the public service, and at the detriment of non-CDCians, most of whom were qualified and experienced.
The government critics alleged that some former footballers and government apologists who lack the capacity to head departments of autonomous Agencies are earning more than the Professionals and technocrats in the Weah-led Government.
They named the Ministries of Information, Transport and the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), Roberts International Airport (RIA), and National Port Authority, among others.
But the government has been bragging about its success story, citing the economic growth, roads construction, electricity provision to thousands of citizens, building of two modern hospitals: 14-Military Hospital in Margibi and Emirates in Gbarpolu County including free education, payment of students West African Examinations fees just to name a few.
