MONROVIA: Nimba County Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung, alias “JKK,” says the time has come for a new generation of leaders to take a “deliberate and radical stance to reverse the backward direction” of Liberia.
Senator Koung who is now Vice Standard Bearer of the former ruling Unity Party (UP), also underscored the need for Liberians to elect a government in October 2023 that will listen and dispense justice without any fear or favor.
“We cannot afford 6 more years of this government which cannot understand and is still learning to lead. A government that is indifferent to your many cries!,” Koung told a surging crowd of UP partisans and supporters Friday, April 28, 2023 in Monrovia when he accepted his nomination by UP Standard Bearer, Joseph Nyuma Boakai (JNB), as running-mate.
Koung, who is also Senator of Nimba County, told supporters: “We have painfully watched more than 5 wasted years of a government that has no vision, no perspective, a pro-poor agenda that has inflicted and distributed poverty and a President and his officials who expand and increase personal wealth at the expense of the majority.”
According to him, UP wants every child unborn to dream of a country that will offer quality education, HealthCare and employment.
“We want parents to know that there is a government that will account for their missing children, solve the mystery of disappearances and questionable deaths,” he stressed.
“You are supporting change because you cannot afford another 6 years of decay, division, hate and backwardness. You anxiously look forward to a future of hope and promise,” he added.
JKK: “You want government to work for you. You want government to be accountable and honest and you want government to protect you and your family. Many families continue to cry out for justice without any ear to listen.”
JKK disclosed that if elected, the Boakai-led Administration will ensure that businesses have an environment of certainty.
“We want a respectable government which will not be chastised by the international community. We have watched more than over 5 (five) wasted years and the time has come for a new generation of leaders to take a deliberate and radical stance to reverse the backward direction of our country,” he emphasized.
“Honorable Boakai and I have a history of working hard and we intend to put our people to work. In our conversation about our country, we both exchanged ideas on how the generation left behind by the mismanagement of the country can become part of our national renewal.
I have joined Honorable Boakai to make this campaign about ordinary Liberians presenting a plan that will rescue our country. We will lay out a plan and offer opportunities to restore your dignity regardless of which party you are. We want you to join our team, join our efforts to reverse the ugly direction of our country,” Senator Koung declared.
“We cannot wait any longer as we painfully watch our youths being decimated by drugs, young girls as pawns of sexual abuse, human trafficking and illiteracy. I am humbled to be selected and want to be tutored by a man whose life of integrity and honesty is exemplary,” he pointed out.
“I don’t know about you but I was just about 11 years old when the war started in Liberia in 1989. I saw first-hand the impact of war on our country especially the youths of our country. I sold fish, sold gas, became a taxi driver, a businessman, representative and now Senator of Nimba County. My story is the story of many. It is the Liberian story but my story must offer hope as I commit myself to work so that every young boy and girl can do better. To all young people, I commit and owe you my best and will work for you. Trust me as one of you!” he added.
The Nimba County senator pointed out that his “selection is a manifestation of Hon. Boakai’s commitment to transition national leadership to a youthful generation whose success can be an example to others.”
“On this day and with my hearts, I submit to the wisdom and experience of my Big Brother Hon. Benoni Wilfred Urey, my sister and fellow Senator of Grand Bassa County, Hon. Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, Hon. Abraham Darius Dillon and many of you whose commitment and loyalty to our country made all this possible. We pray that we all collectively work to end a long journey we started,” Koung told the huge gathering.
“In a small country like ours, I have made friends across the country but there are also those who disagree with me. To all my friends, I plead that you join Honorable Boakai and I to make our country work for all of us. To those who have reasons to disagree with me, I plead for your cooperation so that we all can rescue Liberia.
I am only human and as human, we err. In our disagreements, we still have one thing in common: LIBERIA. Let us work for Liberia,” he concluded.
Speaking at the occasion, UP Standard Bearer, Joseph Nyuma Boakai said he is well and ready to lead.
JNB: “Today after several years, months, weeks and days of intensive consultations, alignments, realignments, vetting and soul-searching, we have come to announce RESCUE TWO, our Partner for the ensuing October 10, 2023 Presidential Elections in our mission rescue Liberia. When I set out on this journey many years ago, my focus was, and has always been on one agenda: COUNTRY FIRST, LIBERIA FIRST!”
Boakai: I am on record to have said to the Liberian people that “Liberia is not a poor country, but the perennial problem of this country is mainly triggered by greed, the lack of sound and honest leadership,” little of which we have experienced in the last several decades of our nearly 200 years of statehood. I am also on record saying that “I have a mission, and that mission is to ensure that the lost image of Liberia is restored.” So, on this momentous day, as God has given me the strength and His good grace to join millions of citizens in taking another step in the mission to rescue this country, it is my honor and pleasure today to announce to the people of Liberia the much-anticipated selection of my vice presidential choice for the 2023 presidential Election-RESCUE 2.
“In our search, we interacted with a lot of qualified and committed Liberians and foreign partners, sought guidance and advice on how we can address the hemorrhaging leadership deficit in our country and we would like to thank everyone for their service, support and commitment to our country. We can assure everyone of a leadership of inclusion. There’s much to offer in the coming campaign and the future government when we earn the confidence of the people of Liberia.
“In my search for a running mate, I sought to find someone who would join me as a partner and build a dedicated team of leaders to rescue our country. I wanted someone young and energetic who will commit to integrity and accountability in governance, commit to reconciling and healing our country and who by their early upbringing understands and connects with a youthful generation and nation still traumatized by war and denial but yet is an example to success. And more importantly someone who knows and experienced how it feels to live in a nation with no hope. Let me assure you that the person I did not look for is a SINLESS ANGEL. However, that person must be one who understands the suffering of our people and is willing to rescue them.
Our search for a running mate as I said earlier, was not a search for a sinless angel but a real human being whose imperfection and belief in God compels him into seeking redemption and imbibes the humility and willingness to work with a team that will make our country better. One who understands that life is about people, and not self. One who knows that collective progress will create a vibrant society and enhance opportunities for all,” Boakai declared.
“Our mission will seek to reform the Presidency and develop a new leadership team to effectively manage our country with integrity, honesty and respect for human dignity,” he added.
According to Presidential aspirant Boakai, “over the last six years, our country entered its lowest state; characterized by degradation of our value system, unprecedented economic hardship , devalued and demoralized civil servants and an upward trend in rewarding political patronage, a practice that has totally undercut the merit-based system.”
He added: “Drug abuse, facilitated by the failure of this administration to stop its inflow. Stealing in government with impunity by officials has become an acceptable norm. Violations of our organic laws are no longer punishable. All of these are happening because the current government doesn’t listen and is not responsive to the needs of the people.”
Boakai: “The horrible leadership that Mr. Weah and his CDC have provided our country since January 2018 is killing our people and robbing young people of a future of hope and promise.
My Fellow Partisans and Liberians, I have come to you with a message of Rescue and Renewal. When I set out on this journey, I have always been persuaded by and influenced by my personal upbringing and the story of my life. A story which reflects the story of many Liberians but this story has been tempered by the deep and abiding faith of what is possible in our country. We have lived through and experienced different phases of Liberia and yet one variable remains so scourging: the hopelessness and neglect of the citizenry but especially our youths.”
“Fellow Liberians, I say with a debt of gratitude that we could not have come this far without standing on the shoulders of some key members of the opposition in the drive for a better Liberia. In the more than 5 years of opposition collaboration since the 2017 elections, I have come to appreciate in particular the unwavering support, dedication, commitment, and loyalty of the many who have stood with us in the quest to fight for the Liberian people against bad governance and economic deprivation,” he stressed.
The UP Vice Standard Bearer particularly singled out for their dedication to the cause, the standard bearer of the All Liberian Party, Benoni Wilfred Urey; the political leader of the Liberty Party, Sen. Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, and their partisans and supporters who stood with us through thick and thin to prove there is more that unite us than divide us in the fight for change. We will continue to stand together in this fight.”
“Similarly”, Boakai asserted: “we thank political and social commentator Henry Pedro Costa for standing with us all these years and for the zest he brings to the conversation and debate about the purpose of public service, as well as his fierce convictions about course correction for Liberia. Sen. Abraham Darius Dillon has been a soldier in the opposition camp and has been flying the opposition banner high, and distance but reliable research social reformer, Martin N. Kollie.”
“We will continue to count on them for the success of this rescue mission. We take this time to also thank Sen. Jeremiah Koung the political leader of the MDR, for his support in 2017, as well as more recently. We would be remiss if we fail to mention Dr. Chris Nyan, Prof. Alaric Tokpa and the NDC, Hon. Reginald Goodridge of the Rainbow Alliance, and Dr. Jeremiah Whapoe of Vision Of Liberia Transformation, for collaborating with us amidst the challenges,” former VP Boakai told the gathering.