The Editor,
Permit me a space in one of the widely read news outlets to express my view on an interesting issue. It has been a while when I expressed strong opinion on national issues confronting the motherland. Howbeit, I am poised to interrogate the credentials of a man whose alliance with one of the most corrupt regimes in Africa has devastated the hope of the masses.
Mirroring through the many happenings in the governance structure of the Unity Party’s government, I have sat in quietude monitoring the exuberance of many Liberians as the nation prepares for election next year.
Some forces are now commercializing political posts so as to create coalition in strategizing for the nation’s highest seat. Many of whom with no idea of how to restitute the hope of our people but whose agenda is to reward the status quo; are settling for big pockets. Interestingly, I have tried not to bother with the pluralities of candidates but to examine VP Boakai’s.
It has been few months now when His Excellency Vice President Joseph Boakai flagrantly accepted a petition in Lofa county to contest the presidency of Liberia. I have heard during the ceremonies that petitioners demanded that he contests since Lofa County has only produced vice presidents over the years.
Seriously! I am baffled. Something seems lost in the minds of these Lofans (self-Created word) who are bent on divisive politics. Are they suggesting Liberia needs a Lofan president in other to make history without cross-examining this man? What is going on here? Let’s stop this kind of backward political practices. If one must argue from another perspective, I would rather disagree to have a Lofan president simply because Lofa has always produced collaborators of corrupt regimes (Samuel Doe and Ellen). But to avoid distraction in my narrative, I will stick to my initial argument.
Why does he want to be president? What can he do differently in contrast to a government he served for 11 years? This man comes with questionable credentials that seriously undermine good governance. Serving in one the most corrupt governments on the continent, it jitters me how he intends to convince the masses. Joseph N. Boakai represents anything but a symbol of a corruption regime. He cannot distinguish himself from the failure of madam Sirleaf to take seriously the fight against corruption, cronyism, and nepotism. A man who celebrates personal success at the expensive of a suffering people; he himself is a failure.
More besides, the current scandal of soliciting fees from companies for monthly visits to his home county is a testimony to the DNA of greed he harbors. While I embrace his vision to make history at the expense of good governance, I am of the view that the lofty declaration of his intention for Liberia’s presidency is disrespect to the people of Liberia. His inaction in fighting corrupt demonstrates weakness and deceits.
Must he sit as a Vice president and watch powerlessly when our institutions are being deliberately undermined and unapologetically destabilized? I do not agree in all honesty. This is the time to call a spade a spade. The attitude to re-elect a man whose 11 years at the Vice presidency remains passive, is a dangerous experiment Liberians endeavor to try in 2017.
Fellow Liberians, we are under moral and political obligation to discharge our revolutionary mission in building the consciousness of the people of Liberia from all vestiges of Unity Party misrule and the residue of massive looting of our resources. We reject this fake intention of the President with the attitude of exonerating himself from the failure of Madam Sirleaf. Vice President Joseph Boakai’s ambition is nothing more than a factory fault of an alternative government; a symbol of a corrupt regime.
Gabriel Nyanti,
[email protected]
