Ganta, Nimba County – Vice President Joseph Boakai went through a laundry list of his affinities to vote-rich Nimba Saturday, but left out the one many of the thousands who thronged the Ganta Sports Stadium were mostly interested in: His running mate in the upcoming Presidential elections.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
From the carpenter who makes his furniture to party chair Wilmot Paye and Associate Justice Kabineh J’aneh who graciously welcomed him in their homes, the standard bearer of the ruling Unity Party went to great length Saturday, to show that the county many are courting for votes is a major presence not just in his life but in the country as a whole.
Nimba Out of the Equation?
Saturday’s uneventful stop by the vice President, may not have ruled Nimba completely out of the equation, but the speculations surrounding his choice for vice President, lives to see another day.
Said the ruling Unity Party Standard Bearer: “I feel blessed that I was able to spend a night in the home of the district of our party national chair, Wilmot Paye for the first time. It would have been even a greater pleasure to have had to spent night in Bhutto and Bahn.
I’d like to thank the Associate Justice Kabineh J’aneh for allowing me to use his house as a holding place while we were in Bahn. I sent him a text to thank him and the reply was very kind. That shows that Liberia – party, no party, we are family.”
Anticipation has been high over who the vice President, who has been in the shadows of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf over the past eleven and a half years would choose as his running mate.
On Saturday, any hope that an announcement of a running mate would come in this vote-rich county were soon dismissed when a very close aide confirmed to FrontPageAfrica that Nimba would not be the setting for the VP play.
Not even a fiery prelude by Paye who delivered an innuendo-filled jab at the opposition Liberty Party candidate Charles Brumskine, helped to show Mr. Boakai’s hand. Paye took aim at Brumskine, whom he accused of never winning an elected position and suggesting that he was selected when he won the 1997 senatorial elections which also saw Charles Taylor winning the presidency.
Mr. Boakai instead focussed his speech Saturday to give an impression of the many endorsements he has been receiving over the past few months.
“When Lofa asks and Bong County translates and Nimba embraces, you know that Gbarpolu, Bomi, Cape Mount, the southeast – all they say is Thank God we have it.”
Nimba Puts Boakai in Tricky Spot
The tone, delivery and calm demeanor of Mr. Boakai suggested that his message in Nimba had one purpose and one purpose only:
To appease residents of the vote-rich county in the likelihood that his pick would not be coming from there even as he repeatedly showered and singled out members of the county’s caucus, excluding Senator Prince Y. Johnson, for praise. Aides have said for weeks that picking someone from Nimba would be tricky.
The county already has a Chief Justice, Francis Korkpor and an Associate Justice in Kabineh J’aneh. The party chair is also from the county. Nevertheless, pressure has been building on Boakai to give the county serious considerations.
So Boakai did his best Saturday to appease.
From Thomas Grupee and Larry Yonquoi; to Saye-Tayor and Matonnokay Tingbeh, all of which at one point or another have been thrown in the mix of speculation as potential running mate to the Vice President, Mr. Boakai crafted his delivery with strategic intentions while at the same time making a pitch for reconciliation.
“Nimbaians know we are all part of one family. If they take the three counties, we are all triplets. We were born on the same day. I’ve always take comfort in the family.
The potential for unity and genuine reconciliation amongst our people is so high and it requires a leader who knows the country, who understands the people and can bring them together. With a leadership that knows the country and the bond that holds us together.”
“With what we have in common”, Mr. Boakai averred, “Even the political and social divide can withstand any tension we share”.
The ruling party standard bearer declared that with the right leadership, honesty, positive feeling for the country amid an abundance of wealth, it shouldn’t deprive other people from moving forward. I
n stead, he added: “It shouldn’t deprive our children from going to good school. I’ve been going around the schools; I’ve been donating books and chairs.
The moment I see the school compound is already cold and there is no spirit for education. This we must change. Our children must have good compound.”
Mr. Boakai said Liberians are one people who should not allow artificial boundaries by people who hold no vision or direction for the country to stand in the way of uniting Liberians.
He went on to say that road constructions could be a major reconciliation tool. “If you were to put a good highway to the southeast, you don’t have to reconcile the country, they will unite the people.
If you connect Lofa County with roads, you don’t have to reconcile the country. Liberians are enterprising, they are friendly people. If they can praise other people, what’s the problem in praising one another.”
Focus on Reconciliation, Unity
Continued Mr. Boakai: “When I hear Liberians discuss their true desire for future, I hear that what they need is good roads, good electricity, better schools, better clinics and better hospitals.”
He prevailed on Nimbaians to focus on reconciliation and unity. “Today, we’re saying not Mende, not Krahn, not Bassa should become a qualification for entitlement. What matters to us is that you are Liberian. We are saying to people it doesn’t matter. We are Liberians.”
The Vice President also took aim at the misuse of the abundant of wealth at Liberia’s disposal. “We are all Liberians.
All of us are entitled to the same wealth of this country. You go to Bomi Hills; you will never see anything happen there because it does not reflect on the people.
You go to Bong, the same. I was in Yekepa the other day. Why should we continue to extract resources; and yet remain poor.”
He then went on to pledge a total transformation of Liberia if elected. “I can tell you that this country will move and it will move so fast that we will not know it in the next six years.
Everything that we have, every connection that we have, we will use it for our people to make them happy and have an educated community. We cannot compromise on these things. Nothing is too good for Liberians.”
Addressing the issue of healthcare, Mr. Boakai also slammed the lack of medical facilities in some parts of the country.
“We were in a community yesterday where they told us there were no clinics. The message I hear from many Liberians is appreciation for the peace we have achieved and we’ve enjoyed so far. Peace must have dividends that we see in other countries.”
Describing his visit to Nimba as the most impactful of all the tours around the country so far, Mr. Boakai told Nimbaians that he had heard their voices loud and clear.
“I intend to work with all of you in bringing more development to this county and making sure this county is developed. In me, you have a true friend.
I don’t talk anything I don’t believe in. Some of you have worked with me and you know me. I say what I mean and I mean what I say.
Our country is going to be transformed, our young people are going to get opportunities, we are going to get vocational training, quality, no compromise.”
Mr. Boakai’s political astuteness was on full display as he charges against people who make a lot of complaints when they should be working toward improving their lives for the better.
“You don’t have to complain about your parents because I hardly had any – with a handicap mother. So, what we need is a country that creates the opportunity.
You don’t have to feel sorry for yourself, you need leaders who believe in their country, leaders who think and know that where they come from, it is their responsibility to make it better.”
With all of Nimba’s County’s 257,780 votes up for grabs, at least according to the preliminary numbers of the National Elections Commission, Mr. Boakai has put off his announcement for yet another day even as the National Elections Commission extended the filing period by ten days following the rejection of the vice standard bearers of both the Alternative National Congress (ANC) and the Liberty Party. The original deadline was Tuesday, July 11, 2017.
A scheduled stop in Kakata, Margibi County en route from Ganta was reportedly called off according to aides. Some speculations pointing toward House Speaker Emmanuel Nuquay as the choice had the vice President stopping in Kakata to announce Nuquay as his running mate on Sunday but that seems to no longer be the case.
An aide said Saturday that the Margibi stop may not happen until the 13th or the 14th of July, meaning the vice President may be taking full advantage of the extended deadline to file.
The opposition Liberty Party has also slammed the elections commission for the extension, charging that it is intended to give the vice President who has been accused of being indecisive over his indecisions to name running mate.
“The dangerous trend of party-controlled Elections Commission raises fundamental concerns about what lies ahead in this crucial electioneering period, the party said in a statement last Friday.
Word Should be Bond
For Boakai, Saturday’s show in Nimba achieved an important goal as he sought to present himself as a strong and viable candidate.
“Today, I am saying thank you to the people of Nimba for this great favor. Put it in your notebook. You do what you say you will do, you see who you doing it to because I believe people’s words should be their bond. You don’t just talk to please people, you talk to make sure that you match your words into actions.”
Nimba, like Bong has become a crowded field for candidates looking to score points and win votes in pursuit of the Liberian presidency. Liberty Party’s Charles Walker Brumskine recently tipped Harrison Karnwea as his running mate while Benoni Urey named Alexander Duopo, son of the late Moses Duopo as his running mate. Senator Prince Johnson already has a strong hold on the county, having won it handsomely in the 2011 elections.
Nevertheless, Saturday’s uneventful stop by the vice President, may not have ruled Nimba completely out of the equation, but the speculations surrounding his choice for vice President, lives to see another day.