Monrovia – Not deterred by the rain, thousands of Unity Party supporters danced under the heavy downpour in a very jubilant atmosphere as they waited the arrival of the standard bearer and vice standard bearer of the party who arrived after 7:PM.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
The standard bearer, Joseph N. Boakai perplexed by the crowd which waited for hours despite the deluge, reserved his campaign speech and only thanked the supporters for proving their love for Liberia through their turnout. He assured them that he and his team will fulfill all their campaign promises they’ve made around the country.
He said he will deliver his speech via radio at later date.
Ngafuan: “Crowd Like We’ve Never Seen”
The 15,000 capacity stadium was full beyond capacity and several thousands were outside the stadium to also grace the occasion.
“We are here to show to our opponents that this city is not owned by one political party and individual; we are out and will remain out if the rain likes it can fall three hundred inches, it wouldn’t discourage us,” a partisan told FrontPageAfrica.
In an exclusive interview with FrontPageAfrica, the Unity Party Campaign chairman, Mr. Augustine K. Ngafuan, said they worked very hard and expected a mammoth crowd, the turnout went astronomically beyond their expectation.
“I expected a mammoth turnout that will be a surprise than anything else that we’ve seen before, but I did not expect it to go astronomically beyond my expectation, he said.
According to him, the turnout transcends party lines and proves that Liberians are seeking a leadership that will be honest and responsible and has the competence and experience, all of which, according to him, are embedded his Vice President Boakai.
“What you saw today is not just a convergence of a political party, what you saw today is a convergence of the political people; it went beyond party lines, it went beyond tribal lines. It means a whole lot for the Unity Party and it means a whole lot for the Liberian people,” Ngafuan said.
Ngafuan believes the massive turnout will transcend into a first round victory for the Unity Party.
Recalling the landslide victory of former President Charles Taylor in 1997, he said, “We’re shooting for the first round victory, those that doubted, they’ve seen it.
It’s possible and we’ll achieve it right here, fair and square. People will continue to doubt until the victory comes. The thing is that we’ve achieve first round victory in this country before, in 1997 it was 75 percent plus,” he said.
According to Ngafuan, he believes the gods were involved in the process perhaps sent down showers of blessings.
“I think the gods were involved in this process. I put it to divine blessings; the fact that we started with two hours of rain and I think in the heavenly bodies, the gods were releasing their blessings,” he said.
Also speaking of the rain, Representative Henry Fahnbulleh (UP-District #4 Montserrado County) said the rain was a shower of blessing and it could not stop UP supporters and partisans from coming out.
“Every time it rains it purified the grounds. Today, we are drenched and wet because we believe strongly that the rain is a shower of blessing that we need to carry us through. Our expectation is that we will win one round and that is what everyone you see here today are working to achieve,” he said.
Both Representative Fahnbulleh and Mr. Ngafuan believe the absence of the standard bearer emeritus should not be considered as an issue.
Ngafuan told FrontPageAfrica that despite President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf having standard bearer emeritus responsibility towards the party, the party respects the fact that she remains the president and has presidential duties to attend to.
“It is her judgement, she can weigh the both and decide which one she’ll take and we respect her judgment, but the Liberian people came and they made a loud statement and for us, that’s what we needed,” he said.