Ex-Liberia VP Joseph Boakai Urges Liberians to Vote out Weah

* Accuses current govt of profligacy, ineptitude

The presidential candidate of Liberia’s opposition Unity Party and the country’s former vice-president, Ambassador Joseph Nyuma Boakai, has carpeted President George Weah for endless foreign junketing and mind boggling corruption that is capable of returning the country to the nation’s pre-war conflict situation if not brought to a halt immediately.

The former vice-president, at a press conference in Monrovia, the nation’s capital, Wednesday, noted specifically that the major problem confronting Liberia at the moment is lack of leadership. 

Urging Liberians to be prepared to vote out President Weah in the 2023 presidential election, Boakai accused Weah of unconscionable corruption and profligacy that Liberians must bring to an end.

He said: “As I speak to you, President Weah has left the country and will be away for the next seven weeks without any tangible explanation to the Liberian people. It is needless to say that his long stay away from the country with no tangible reason is unprecedented in the history of the Liberian Presidency. Of course, we are aware that President Weah’s presence or absence are the same, but at least with minimum effect on our financial resources.”

Accusing the Weah government of mind boggling corruption, Boakai specifically cited the National Housing and Population Census preparation, which, he said has been marred by “controversies, characterised by outright corruption and lack of well-defined policies.

“Recently, we witnessed the hauling and pulling in a saga of (alleged) stealing of money intended for the census by corrupt officials at the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services, (LISGIS)”.

In spite of the fact that the census process has been undermined by gross mismanagement and corruption, the former vice-president urged Liberians to participate fully in the exercise, “as participating in the exercise is a patriotic duty”.

The presidential front runner noted that all the reasons provided by the former leaders and rulers of the Republic as justification for the wars that led to the deaths of thousands of innocent souls, such as bad governance, corruption, misuse of public office and failure to organise credible elections are back in full swing. 

“Today we are threatened by the same reasons that were used by insurgents to destroy our country. As responsible citizens, we will not fold our arms and allow an irresponsible government to invite another crisis to Liberia,” he said.

Boakai also lamented the shortage and escalating prices of rice and other staple food and condemned the government’s inability to pay civil servants on time, with its attendant ripple effects on parents’ abilities to meet up with their responsibilities at the home front.

Delivering a damning verdict on the Weah government, the presidential hopeful submitted: “Never have we seen such a display of reckless disregard for the concerns of the people of this country. Never have we seen so much display of greed, selfishness, corruption, and irresponsibility at the highest level of government. Never have we seen a President of Liberia become a laughing stock or joke in the world. Never have we lived under a government that brings so much shame and disgrace to our country. “

To put an end to this backward journey to yesteryear of conflict and crises, the presidential front runner urged Liberians to remove the Weah government from power in 2023 “so that serious efforts can be made to better Liberia and protect the interest of future generations”. 

“This will be done through the decisive and popular vote of the Liberian people in 2023,” Boakai asserted.