Monrovia – Appearing on The Costa Show, Monday, December 18, Vice President Joseph Boakai couldn’t hold back, when quizzed about the performance of Senator George Weah in the Senate.
Responding, Vice President Boakai said he has never seen the Coalition for Democratic Change’s (CDC) standard bearer raise his hand in plenary, put forth any issue for debate or a bill for the past three years.
“The fact is from the time I have been presiding over the Senate, it is expected that a Senator speaks to the matter on the floor.”
“Unfortunately, Mr. Weah has not had the desire to speak and I’m sure he’s probably might be making up his mind to speak,” Vice President Boakai said.
VP Boakai, who is the Unity Party standard bearer, further stated that over the past three years while presiding over the Senate, Senator Weah has not mustered the courage to speak in plenary.
“Three years have gone; he might speak one day. He has not raised his hand to say anything; I’m not lying,” VP Boakai said.
The Vice President’s comment about Senator Weah became a trending discussion on social media on Monday; with those supporting Senator Weah kicking against what the VP, who is the President of the Senate, had said.
The VP supporters, on the other hand, have been running with their standard bearer’s comments in order to score political points against their CDC’s opponents.
On whether, he (VP Boakai) would be willing to appear at a debate between him and Weah, he said: “I went against three when I just knew about the debate a day before, why shouldn’t I be ready to go against Senator Weah.”
He maintained that he and his rival Presidential candidate need to explain their plans to the Liberian people of what each intends to do if elected.
“We need to tell Liberians what we have got to offer; Liberians have a saying that you cannot buy a pick in bag. We should be able to tell Liberians what we can do,” Boakai stressed.
The Costa Show’s lead host, Henry Pedro Costa, a known critic of Mr. Weah’s bid to become President, posted this on his Facebook page a few hours after he had hosted VP Boakai in his studio: “I see Cdcians running around on Facebook defending their empty-headed dummy Weah, who was severely spanked by incoming President Joseph Boakai this morning. It is hurting them bad way.
They really wish their buffoon could express himself with logic as JNB effortlessly does. Hahaha…
The picture below was taken years ago when Weah was being inducted into the Liberian Senate. Just so you know, Senators don’t leave their seats to mount the podium to make a point in session.
Yes, JNB was correct when he said that all the times when he presided over Senate sessions, Weah never raised his hand, not once, to address an issue. Let’s reject the dummy. I double dare Weah to appear on his own radio station and explain his platform if he has any, as JNB eloquently did this morning on The Costa Show.”
But an avid Weah supporter, Wilmot F. Smith, too, posted to counter Costa’s claim: “Was Senator Weah inducted twice in the Liberian Senate?
Did he dress twice on his induction day? The Unity Party needs revival. No party takes pleasure in telling lies about Sen George Weah than the failed Unity Party.”
A few hours after his studio appearance, the Unity Party standard bearer’s comment did not go unnoticed.
Speaking on his campaign trail in Ganta City, Nimba County, the CDC standard bearer reacted sharply to the UP standard bearer’s comment about his performance saying that when he spoke Vice President Boakai was always sleeping and so didn’t pick up what he (Weah) had said.
Being sarcastic further, Senator Weah said that Vice President Boakai was sleeping at the time he raised his hand in plenary.
“Boakai said in the Senate, he has not seen me put my hand up, but I say to Boakai every time I put my hand up, he can be sleeping, when I stood in the Senate and said Liberians’ taxes must be cut, Boakai was sleeping, when we argued that [the price of] rice was up, when we put our hands up Boakai was sleeping,” Senator Weah added.
Weah continued: “We were talking about rice price to be low but Boakai refused because Boakai is also selling rice.
“All the bad laws against you, Boakai, as the President of the Senate, signed all those documents. During the Ebola when I said that schools should not be opened because parents didn’t have money to send their children back to school, Boakai was sleeping.”
Weah said the Unity Party and Vice President Boakai didn’t deliver anything good for the Liberian people for the last 12 years.
“Joseph Boakai and the Unity Party-led government did not do anything good for you; we gave them 12 years and they have done nothing,” Weah, who is a football icon on the African Continent, stressed.
Weah only found time to respond to his rival’s comment about him not performing in the Senate but didn’t say anything about whether he would avail himself for the debate.
In time past, Senator Weah has always found excuse not to partake in any of the Presidential debates that have been organized for the contestants in the Presidential race.
According to the debate organizers, Mr. Weah won’t give any excuse but would deliberately abscond from the process only for his supporters to defend his absence, with some saying: “That debate will put food on ordinary Liberian’s table?”