By Gideon Nma Scott, Jr.
On November 18, 2023, former President George Weah succumbed to defeat at the hands of 79 years old Joseph Boakai in what remains a heavily contested runoff election in the nation’s election history. The duo emerged as the top candidates following the general and legislative elections.
Article 83 (b & c) state that “All except for President and Vice President, all elections of public officers shall be determined by a simple majority of the valid votes cast in any election. Election of President and Vice President shall be by absolute majority of the valid votes cast. If no Presidential ticket obtains an absolute majority in the first ballot, a second ballot shall be conducted on the second Tuesday following expiry of the time provided. The two presidential tickets that received the greatest number of valid votes on the first ballot shall be designated to participate in the run-off election and the ticket with a majority of the valid votes cast shall be the declared winner.”
Since none of the two candidates received the universal suffrage of 50+1 votes on the first ballot, they had to face each other in a tightly contested runoff in which Weah bowed in submission.
Following his capitulation to defeat, many persons in President Weah’s innermost cycle as well as his closed associates and passionate followers condemned him for such an injudicious decision to concede to a tightly contested election while presiding over the affairs of the state. Most of them said openly and in private that Weah should have used his presidential might and all means available to him to bend the results of the election. “We have the military and all paramilitary organs of the state on our side. He should have announced himself as the winner and deploy the military, police and all paramilitary personnel to deal with any uprising thereof,” a staunched partisan of the Congress for Democracy Change (CDC) said.
On the other hand, Weah received the highest commendation c from world leaders including international partners from around the world for his decision to step aside from power and save the state that was already sitting on the verge of another internal civil conflict. In related elections other African countries, especially in the subregion, some of his defeated colleagues resisted the political will of the people and used their presidential strength to cling to power, something that led to minor uprising among the people, thereby killing hundreds of their citizens.
His submission was also another history making moment for Liberia, a country, that came out of 14 years of civil war where two of its presidents peacefully turned over power to their successors following the end of their tenues.
For six years, Joe Boakai, the Unity Party and all their followers described Weah and his CDC as maladroit and forcefully criticized them for bad governance, rampant corruption, the mysterious disappearance of citizen, alleged ritualistic and extrajudicial killings, the deaths of the auditors, the three missing boys from the St. Moses Funeral Parlor in Gardnerville, abandonment of the country to witness the FIFA World Cup, amassing of wealth for private gains by him and some of his closed associates in power, the alleged illegal removal of a sitting associate justice, the gross interference into the activities of the National Legislature and the Judiciary, poor road connectivity and many more.
In the 11th hour, the Boakai campaign of rescuing the country gained steam and ran Weah and his associate out of power with a slim 1.26 percent margin at the ballot.
But since Joe and his collaborators ascended to power, nothing significant has changed, and the Rescue Mission may be walking in the footprints of the ousted Coalition of Democratic Change government as in nearly six month of their governance, some of the basic governing principles on which they sat on the neck of Weah that led to his political demise; some of his solecisms they used as stepping stones to chase him out of the Executive Mansion are beginning to surface in the young UP-led government, especially, alleged mysterious deaths including the alleged suicide of a 32 year old man at the Salem Police Station on the Airfield, the alleged suicide of a sergeant serving in the Armed Forces of Liberia, miscommunication in the inner cycle of government, mostly between the Executive Mansion and the Ministry of Information as well as the alleged misuse of over US$22m by the Ministry of Public Works for road rehabilitation across the country.
With these alleged gross misconducts, human rights violations, misuse of public funds, disrespect of public trust, as well as their attempt to want to manage the media and independent press would leave one to believe that, between the Boakai and Weah governments, “Nothing changed.”
The phrase, “Nothing change,” is commonly used in Liberia to express regret, abhorrence, skepticism, disappointment, downheartedness, etc., especially when an individual or group of people have put their trust in a person or a group of people for personal or communal transformation and feel let down.
“Nothing change,” could well be interpreted in the Liberian axiom as, “It is good to stay with the devil you know than the angel you have not seen,” which could put Mr. Boakai and his government at the mercy of the people in less than a year of governance.
During his inauguration, the Liberian leaders promised that under his leadership, the country would have witnessed drastic and significant changes in his first 100 days in office and that his government will not do business as usual, claiming that he was elected to correct the wrongs of the past and lead the country out of poverty into prosperity, saying “This country is endowed with a lot of resources for its people to live in poverty.” But while correcting the wrongs of the past, it appears that the government is in more errors and “Nothing change”.
Boakai should be reminded that Liberians, home and abroad, expressed explicit trust in his ability to rebrand, redirect and regain the country’s damaged image based on his long service in government, especially serving as a vice president for 12 years, that some people had to use their personal and family resources to finance his election bid. Others also took personal and family risks with their jobs, sacrificed their friendships and at times came in ferocious conflicts with people from the other side of the banister to have him elected.
So, to see some officials of his government threading the same paths of their fierce political rivals, the CDC, many of his supporters could think that ‘Nothing change” and that they waisted their efforts and resources to ensuring that this government got elected.
Nothing has changed since some personnel of this government like Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation (LPRC), the Commissioner General of the Liberia Maritime Authority, the Minister of Public Works, Montserrado County Superintendent, the Presidential Press Secretary, Legal Advisor to the President, the Minister of State and his principal deputies and most appointed officials who believe that they have arrived in their professional sojourn, have begun putting on the CDC posture of pride, greed, arrogance, self-esteem, egoistic, bragging, self-centered and self-seeking attitude. They have forgotten too quickly of the many equally qualified and professional persons who were with them in rain and sun, who swam in the dirt-filled Soniwein, went with them from town to town, district to district, community to community; those who reminded them that they were not alone in the struggle and more besides, those who ran with the Boakaic philosophy of “Think Liberia, Love Liberia and Build Liberia” to every corner of the country. These people are the true champions and should not be treated the way they are.
I want to retell those self-imposed kings and queens of the Boakai government, especially Mr. Legal Advisor to the President who is posing himself as the Nathaniel of this government by interfering in the affairs of Jones Dopoe’s “Sweet, Sweet Casava Leaf” and that their call to government is to serve and serve only. So, these early displays of arrogance, pride, greed, financial indiscipline, thinking they can defend their mischief, is a confirmation that “Nothing change.” These are only politically intended to harm President Boakai and his government and make him unpopular with the people in the early months of his government.
I have singled out these few not based on personal reason(s), but because of their pervasive behaviors in using their portfolios to inadvertently or knowingly bring the government to public ridicule based on the way they conduct themselves officially in public and in private. I believe that they lack the enthusiasm to adequately propagate the objectives of the Rescue Mission through their actions and transaction with the masses is one reason that making the public to believe that “Nothing change.”
Some government officials are also accused of refusing to interact with other professional colleagues in government and especially journalists. They behave as though they are being targeted or haunted by the media and denied the public of needed information. These acts have led to negative speculations mostly in the courtyard of the rebirthed opposition, CDC.
Maybe they do not know that their selection by the President to serve the Liberian people in no way puts them above some of those who made utmost sacrifices for the election of the Boakai-Koung government that assigned them to those posts.
These were the same behavior that were being ostensibly exhibited by some senior members in the former government for which the people saw the Unity Party as an option and coming to witnessing these same acts from a government that claimed it came to rescue, is worth noting that “Nothing change.”
I want to encourage the Boakai-Koung government to begin clamping these early misconducts that are allegedly perpetrated by some member of its government; that if nothing is done to discourage said misbehaviors from within his circle, things could go worse than the drowning CDC and its leader, Weah.
I want to add in passing that the government should coordinate and strengthen its communication strategies as many of its senior public relation personnel are not mainstream journalists have not practice in that area and may need to understand certain lexis (jargon) in the work environment, coordination, collaboration and support base information sharing so as to mitigate some of the misinformation, distorted information and the misunderstanding of certain government functionary before going to the press.
This would do the Rescue Mission, President Boakai, his government and the Liberian people justice to know that there are well-coordinated and balanced information from credible sources on the gains made by the government as well as the shortfalls that could trigger the public support in areas of concern.
If things must change, this government must discourage and denounce all forms of negativism and set standards that will promote economic growth, institutional and infrastructural development, peace, unity, security, human rights and jingoism.
Until these things are done and achieved, from where I sit, between the Boakai, Weah Government, “Nothing Change”
*The thought of the son of the professional Kru woman.
