By Gideon Nma Scott, Jr.
Happy New Year to all of you my distinguished and esteemed readers and followers. It would be disrespectful if I do not apologize to you for my long stay from this page. It was due to a lot of things, some of which I cannot explain here. But however, 2024 was an exciting year with lots of hopes and challenges where we witnessed the ushering of the Boakia-Koung government under the Unity Party. Happy New Year again and I wish all of us the best of 2025.
In this public manner, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to the Inquirer family for giving this space, “The thought of the son of a professional Kru woman” to contribute to our national discourse and also write some nonsense… (Just take the none and leave the sense)
I particularly want to thank the Managing Editor of the Inquirer Newspaper, Madam Winnie Sayway Jimmy, Jenneh Wonuah, Boakai’s Press Secretary, Madam Kula Fofana and my own sister, Siatta Scott-Johnson for being my ardent follower and critics. I must admit, as a human rights officer, I do appreciate some of those feminist assertions in my works.
I a few days, millions of Liberians, both home and abroad will listen to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai as he delivers his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) which is by a constitutional mandate.
Article 58 of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia states, “The President shall, on the fourth working Monday in January of each year, present the administration’s legislative program for the ensuing session, and shall once a year report to the Legislature on the state of the Republic. In presenting the economic condition of the Republic the report shall cover expenditure as well as income.”
As per this Constitutional mandate, the President is expected to report to the nation on the performance of his government, mainly on the roll out of major development programs, economic achievement as well as challenges. He uses the occasion to give hope to the people by promising to address socioeconomic as well as development activities by building more schools, putting drugs in healthcare facilities, making farm to market roads pliable and putting more food on the table of the ordinary Liberian. But in most instances, these are just mare words and vague promises to appease the hearing of poor voters who stood in the rain and sun to ensure that he/she is elected. This is why most ordinary Liberians do not take interest in listening to state of the nation addresses. Like the only profession Kru woman would say, “Deh ghod-mehn pepo kean jeh lie”.
While this is the second SONA of President Boakai, technically, this will be his first simply because the first SONA of any president only projects his agenda as he/she sits in his/her first year in office. There is nothing much to report on as nothing has been done by his/her government.
During the impending State of the Nation Address (SONA) by President Joseph Boakai, many Liberians will be eager to hear how he’s rolling out his ARREST agenda by addressing the issues of roads, healthcare, education, agriculture as well as putting food on the ordinary Liberian table. I believe that in his first year as president, Boakia has begun responding to some of these issues, but we need to know how he intends to remedy the pressing bread and butter matter and the economy hardship the country is experiencing under his leadership.
While many pro-regime followers claim that President is on the right trajectory on rolling out his ARREST agenda through road connectivity, education, putting more drugs in healthcare delivery centers as well as providing jobs for the ordinary family, many anti-government individuals and organization are pointing to the government’s inability to address the rule of law, mob violence, access to justice, corruptions and arrogance shown by some of his officials; and moreover that some lawmakers closed to the presidency allegedly ignited the conflict at the House of Representatives that led to the burning of the Rotanda that housed the chambers of the Upper and Lower Houses as well as the joint chamber where the President would have delivered this year’s State of the Nation Address.
This year’s presidential report to the nation otherwise known as the “State of the Nation Address (SONA) would be very unusual and interesting as it will be the first of its kind to be delivered on a foreign soil out of the Capitol since the building was erected on Capitol Hill by President William V.S. Tubman in 1954.
While there is no specific venue for such national event, there are speculations that the President may speak to the nation from either the Monrovia City Hall in Sinkor or the Centennial Pavilion on Ashmun Street in Monrovia, which has never happened in Liberia, even in the times of conflict. President Sawyer delivered his SONA from the Capitol throughout his presidency from 1991 to 1994.
Another issue is that while the nation awaits Boakai’s SONA from a foreign venue, the impasse that led to the burning of the Capitol Building is still trending. That the Supreme Court could not clearly answered the political question nor define the corporate “Uttra Vires” ruling or its “Return to Status Code Anti” in the HOR case, the submission of the National Budget to Richard Koon by the Executive and the appearing of some ministers of government have told us in advance that Boakai have legitimized the majority bloc and will deliver his State of the Nation Address under the gavel of Richard Koon as Speaker.
In closing, while we listen to the President of the Republic of Liberia delivering his SONA from a foreign venue, it is imperative that members of the majority bloc of the Lower House move back to the main chamber of the House of Representatives in the Capitol Building to do the business of the Liberian people, except they too are not convince that they are now in charge of the state of affairs at the Capitol.
The thought of the son of a professional kru woman.
