MONROVIA – Dr. Clarence Monibah, son of former Vice President Harry Moniba is gradually stepping into his father’s shoes and already getting the blessings of the chiefs and elders of Lofa County.
During the festive season, over a thousand people jubilated with him during his arrival in both Gbekedu and Sakannedu in Quado-Boni District, Lofa County. Another thousand-plus the traditional dancers welcomed him in Vahun, and four days later, hundreds of people and community leaders in the district of Kolahun marched with him on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the close of 2022 with him.
By Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
Along his tour in the county, he stopped in dozens of towns, where town chiefs, community and youth leaders gathered with other well-wishers to see who everyone in Lofa was calling, Our Son. All of this happening only one week after he was declared political leader of the Liberian National Union (LINU). So, the question is – will these massive crowds and reception continue outside of what could be considered his stronghold of Lofa county?
The name Moniba still remains one of the most popular names in Lofa. While the older generation honored his father’s memory because of his past contribution to both the county and country, the younger people were excited to see someone his age representing their concerns.
With a high degree of education, having worked in Government and international institutions, as 2023 begins, can we assume that Dr. Moniba will run this election cycle? In his message, Dr. Moniba spoke about not waiting for others to do what Liberians should be doing for themselves. His message, “Become the Change…” seemed to have a positive response, with one older woman stating, “he is so young and so positive about our country’s future, I wish him luck.”
Dr. Moniba has not said much publicly in reference to the 2023 race, although talk around his camp sounds very much like they are preparing to announce his candidacy. There is even a group of Liberians in Europe calling themselves concerned citizens who have begun raising funding for him. Their chairman, Christopher Tobey said that they were prepared to do whatever it takes to support him as they claim that the options running for President are limited to the same group of people from the 2017 cycle, and therefore would risk the same result of a Weah victory.
Obviously, time is running very short, so whether he runs or not will have to be decided in the matter of weeks, not months and although he is proving to be solidifying his base in Lofa, if he does decide to run, will his success of pulling big crowds translate to other regions such as the Southeast? Grand Gedeh, Cape Mount and Gbapolu should be somewhere Dr. Moniba finds massive support because of his late father, but will that also translate to support in vote rich counties such as Margibi and Nimba? Someone close to him who did not want to be named said that Dr. Moniba, at forty-three, thinks that the vote rich counties which all have an extremely young population would support his candidacy if he did decide because the young people would rally around another young candidate because of his qualifications. According to the source, Dr. Moniba is confident that if the young people are given an option of someone who shares their concern and not only looks and speaks like them, but is also highly educated with relevant work experience, that it will be an easy choice for them to make.
Is the 2023 field already defined with the top three candidates, or will there be room for a new face in Liberian politics to emerge victorious?