As each day passes, Mr. Boakai becomes increasingly more of a lame duck, rubber-stamp, and puppet president. Despite being the one supposed to lead the country, he is no longer even in control of himself, let alone the nation! This tragic reality has created a moral dilemma, where an elected president continues to show signs of cognitive impairment, resulting in severe mental & physical decline that undermines his ability to move unaided, remember, or solve problems.
By Mulbah Morlu, contributing writer
Reflecting on today’s ‘Armed Forces Day’ event, while it’s not unusual for presidents to ride in the back or middle of special vehicles to inspect troops, there are typically two reasons for this: either security concerns or health issues. Given that security wasn’t the apparent concern today, we can infer that the president’s decision was driven by health reasons, which should cause worry among all citizens, both at home and abroad.
Imagine a president who had to be carefully guided onto the back of a pickup truck to inspect the troops during an important national program—breaking a long-standing tradition due to apparent concerns that he might be too unfit to walk less than 120 yards! A president who, at another official event, fails to see the podium directly in front of him; who struggles to organize his thoughts, forgets key details, and, at global forums, drifts aimlessly off course during panel discussions while everyone else stays on track and looked surprised. A leader who supposedly reasons at a sluggish pace in a world that is rapidly evolving and appears incapable of addressing critical issues. This is the same man who, without considering the devastating impact on his people and their families, boldly urged President Trump to deport Liberians—ending with the painful mockery: ‘Your Come build your country.’ Really, Mr. President?
President Boakai’s apparent incapacity, which is likely to worsen with more age, has thrust Liberia into dangerous and unchartered territory in terms of national security. If this situation isn’t addressed—which seems unlikely due to his advanced years—he will continue to be a liability to Liberia’s democracy and governance as was seen today.
It saddens me to reach this conclusion. Although I opposed Mr. Boakai during the presidential campaigns, I wished him well after his victory and even gave my tacit support in voluntary silence for an entire year, hoping he would prove me wrong. Unfortunately, he did not.
For those perplexed by the unpredictable nature of events and how corruption has quickly accelerated Liberia’s descent into a moral abyss, one thing is clear: the country’s political decline is directly tied to the President’s deteriorating mental and physical condition, reducing him to a Muppet Monarch, a puppet continuously manipulated by political puppeteers, sealing his legacy in failure.
The speed at which the Boakai administration has outpaced even some of his predecessors in criminality and corruption within just one year further reinforces this conclusion.
Caught in a double bind, the president is held hostage by competing political factions, each tearing apart the nation while siphoning large portions of the national treasury for their own families and ambitions. Meanwhile, ordinary Liberians are left to starve. This situation poses a serious threat to the country’s current peace and future stability.
The unification of progressive grassroots forces can no longer be postponed. To protect the national interest, it is crucial to halt the Boakai establishment’s cronies from dividing Liberia’s resources among themselves and handing the nation’s wealth to foreign corporations.
While the suspension of some public officials and occasional dismissals may give the appearance of an anti-corruption effort, a closer look reveals that those removed are walking away with stolen wealth—perhaps as a reward for their loyalty during the campaign. A president with sound mental faculties and a genuine commitment to fighting corruption would not only dismiss these individuals but also take decisive action to recover the stolen funds and redirect them for the public good.
An 80-year-old man who struggled to finish his inauguration speech and needed help to leave the podium during his swearing-in ceremony shouldn’t be expected to fully execute the duties of the presidency without dramatic and embarrassing consequences. And this recent Armed Forces Day spectacle is just a glimpse of what’s to come. At another recent event, as embarrassing as it was for the president to wander aimlessly, unaware of where the podium stood, a staff member gently guided him back with a whisper, ‘The podium is on that side.’ I was not at all surprised. I say with a heavy heart that President Boakai will only worsen, as his deputies are either too greedy or too incompetent to lead, creating a moral quandary.
What many Liberians may be overlooking is that the same condition that led to former President Joe Biden’s exit from the Democratic Party ticket, clear signs of cognitive decline, has manifested in Mr. Boakai. The Democratic Party wasn’t prepared to confront this painful reality early, and had to deal with it later, at a great cost. In President Boakai’s case, the situation is even worse, with five years to go!
When assessing the greed, corruption, and incompetence of his closest deputies, one can’t help but fear the worst for the country. Yet, while we pray for the president’s mental and physical health—both of which are undeniably declining—we must also acknowledge that nature runs its course unless a miracle intervenes. So, let us all continue to pray for that miracle.
However, most men in their 80s experience a regression in cognition and behavior that resembles childhood—a reality that regime surrogates are well aware of, even if they dismiss it with profane deflections, while continuing to exploit Joseph Nyemah Boakai for their own political greed & advantage.
Happy armed forces day.
