Governing A Divided Nation; The UP-Administration Task Ahead

In his first address to the nation since his election, President-elect Boakai, as expected in some quarters, indicated that he would be both a strong and unifying leader. He called on Liberians to “join in the transformation” that his administration hopes to bring. He acknowledged the hardship suffered under the current administration but noted that his administration would “lift our people” out of the misrule and injustice they have endured for the “many years”. He further admonished Liberians to “join hands and exploit the full potential of a country of promise”.

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By D. Othniel Forte, University of Liberia Graduate School

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He “employ[ed] all Liberians, irrespective of their ethnic background” to “join” him in the rescuing of Liberia. “The hard work to rebuild starts now”. By this comment, Mr. Boakai acknowledges his understanding of the situation the nation faces. He further notes that the “challenges of this country must be confronted immediately and head on to create an equal future for all Liberians and succeeding generations. We must have no stone unturned to address and remove economic social, political disparity”.

He thanked the people for placing their “trust in [him] to lead”, but will that be enough? Mr. Boakai now has to deal with the fact that everything is a priority. Healthcare and education will compete with security economic development. These issues will all be dying needs at the same time. They will all be vying for the limited resources. How the new president manages this distribution will be a test of his leadership. The expectation of campaign promises will be eagerly anticipated.

The Unity Party will struggle with ruling a nation that is split politically, darn right in the middle. Already as it is, leading any nation is difficult, what more a recovering, poorly managed one, way down the poverty lane. Governing will prove a bigger challenge than anticipated. The Boakai administration hands are particularly tied as the tenets of good governance force them to be accommodating, patient, collaborative, and inclusive.

President Boakai, will take over a nation that lags, way behind, on many of the global development indicators, but importantly, one that is undergoing desperate economic hardship. Families can barely afford food or their educational needs, cover their medical and health expanses, transportation and forex rates hit the rooftop years ago. These are pressing issues that transcend party lines. They transcend tribal and ethnic loyalties. These are issues that are basic human needs. Any strategy that fails to address these immediately, is one guaranteed to end in disaster for the party.

Liberians are no longer tired. They are exhausted. People are not just frustrated, they are desperate. They are way past angry, people are livid. Liberians are not a lot that can afford the luxury of patience, at least not right now. The celebration and fanfare will end shortly but all that energy will be turned towards solutions; immediate solutions. Then that’s where the first major test of leadership will occur. A nation desperate for rescue, will accept nothing short of that. The immediacy of the bread-and-butter issues can’t be overstressed.

The luxury of time, granted the Weah administration in 2018 and the patience to bear out the inexperience of the Coalition of Democratic Change -CDC, will not be afforded the Unity Party-UP. The party has experience and has had time to plan for this moment. Little room for excuses will be tolerated here.

This brings us to potential fault lines the UP administration should address immediately. Boakai will have to do more than assure Liberians of unity. The mandate to lead he has is barely just that- a mandate. This means that half of this nation believe he is the best choice. The other half, he would have to win over. Both halves will be demanding from him better service deliveries and better lives. He would now have to rise to the task of being a president for everyone. Unifying the country benefits his administration and wins him the needed confidence from those on the other side of the isle. Thus, increasing and strengthening his mandate.

However, precisely because of the mandate, the UP might have a potential internal crisis. Members that stayed loyal to the Boakai faction, new ones that fueled the dying party, and others who remained quietly supportive and took no public stand in the party’s split, will now surface, claiming their pound of flesh. This might prove to be the first storm. It is common knowledge that the silent struggle for position has drastically increased within the party.

Boakai will have to firmly quench this issue to avoid it turning into an entitlement and arrogance syndrome- the siblings that plagued the CDC and drove it to its ruin. No one party has a right to rule in a democracy. Wining an election doesn’t entitle any party to a right to rule. If the UP administration remembers this, it will serve them right. The party will have to show a high level of leadership to keep this issue in check.

The next issue that the UP administration needs to address is the need for a workable system. One of the reasons Madam Sirleaf succeeded when she took over in 2005, was her early grasp of this problem. After years of war, the fabric of government was shattered. The spoil system had evolved to a new level. The multiple peace accords had introduced and entrenched a system that paid warlords for playing- raising war. They got amnesty and secured positions in each transitional administration. They then used this to solidify a bogus machinery that fueled the messy, corrupt system that currently weighs every section of this nation.

Any plan to restart the system must begin here. For good governance, better healthcare, and education, even an immediate economic relief, there needs to be a system that tracks, coordinates, and implements these policies. Otherwise, one might as well place sand in a ripped pocket, where it would all fall to the ground. No service will be effective, no policy will attain its objectives absent a system. Systems drive people, who then manage development. There is no logical way around this.

The Boakai administration now needs to utilize its wealth of experience, time of reflection in the opposition and every other resource to keep this ship afloat. She must do more than talk though of corruption. She must attack it fiercely, ever cognizant that as an entrenched culture, the net will eventually catch some of its own babies. Mr. Boakai must be steadfast in his determination to root out this cancer, especially if it means eating any of his babies caught in the net. A president Boakai that will live the tough talk will be one that will go down in history for the right reasons. For now, time remains the measure of everything.