By: Frank P. Martin
MONROVIA: The former Campaign Manager of the erstwhile Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Lenn Eugene Nagbe, has disclosed that former President George Manneh Weah will re-contest the Liberian Presidency in 2029.
2029 would mark the fourth times for the ex-global soccer legend, George Manneh Weah, to contest the coveted Liberian Presidency following a narrowed defeat to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in the November 2023 Presidential runoff elections.
Mr. Nagbe who is also former Commissioner of Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA) also disclosed that at the moment former President Weah is in full control of the activities of the erstwhile governing CDC.
Mr. Nagbe made it clear that former President Weah is fully in control of activities of the CDC. No one should think he is not monitoring the political activities of the Country.
Mr. Nagbe emphasized that George Weah will surely be on the ballot in 2029 after decision from the Party at the pending CDC convention,” Nagbe said recently.
Mr. Nagbe’s comments were contained in a reaction to previous assertion by Gbarpolu County Senator, Amara Konneh, expressing uncertainty as it relates to former President Weah making a comeback in 2029 and the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
Senator Konneh claims that the CDC is in disarray after Weah told his partisans and supporters that he will not make a comeback at age 65 in 2029.
The Gbarpolu Senator said on Sunday night that former President Weah had made uncontrollable and conflicting statements that have kept his partisans and supporters struggling for political direction since the 2023 polls.
“The CDC is disorganized since the elections in 2023. I don’t see them like an opposition political institution that stands to critique President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and his administration’s 100 days deliverables,” Konneh said.
“All border on Weah’s statements that have made some folks in the CDC frustrated,” Senator Konneh further asserted.
But, Eugene Nagbe in an interview in Monrovia Monday, May 27, 2024, clarified that the former Liberian leader has never quashed his ambition to serve the country.
Mr. Nagbe indicated that once chances are given George Weah, he will lead the Liberian nation.
He said former President Weah and constituent members of the Coalition for Democratic Change have held several meetings since Weah arrival from France.
He maintains that the former President is currently re-strategizing and reflecting on factors that led to the CDC’s defeat in the 2023 Presidential and Legislative elections.
“Former President Weah held meetings with several organizations of the CDC to unite the party after the elections,” Nagbe clarified.
George Weah conceded defeat on his bid for a second term, after a tight runoff against his main political rival Boakai, a 79-year-old political veteran, in an election that was considered a test of democracy in the West African nation.
Mr. Boakai, who had served as vice president for 12 years under the former President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, defeated Mr. Weah, a 57-year-old former soccer star, by a razor-thin margin.
“The Liberian people have spoken and we have heard their voice,” Weah said in an address to the nation, adding that Boakai “is in a lead that we cannot surpass.”
“I urge you to follow my example and accept the result of the elections,” he said, adding that “our time will come again” in 2029,” Weah told supporters, then in an acceptance speech.
Nagbe acknowledged that former President Weah’s concession speech at ahead of final pronouncement by the National Elections Commission of the 2023 runoff election indicates that the Weah and the CDC will make a comeback in 2029.
He said the CDC, as a political institution, is also engaging key opposition political actors and institutions for a strong conglomeration that would see resurrection of the CDC and Weah to state power after the 2029 elections.
He maintains that former President Weah is still the political leader of the CDC, contrary to Amara Konneh’s assertion that the Coalition lacks “leadership and direction after the 2023 polls.”
