The Editor,
The worse thing that will happen to Liberia, next in magnitude only to the Liberian civil war, is the election of Joe Boakai as President of Liberia.
Let’s set aside the fact that he is grossly incompetent and incapable of performing the duty of the office of the president on accounts of his age, his health, his intellectual capacity and his past record.
It is a known fact this old man cannot boast of any accomplishment in his 50-year career in public service. I challenge his supporters to point to any signature accomplishment of this old man. (In the next article we will examine his record in public service).
In spite of the above, I sincerely believe that the form and manner in which Joe Baokai has conducted himself and his campaign, he is sending out signals of what the Liberian people will get when he (Joe Boakai) is elected president. The writings are all on the walls in bold letters and let’s not ignore them.
Joe Boakai is bigot and a tribalist: he has been running his campaign purely on the basis of tribalism and sectionalism. When you examine major decisions he has taken so far and those with whom he has surrounded himself, you can see clearly, very clearly, where the old man intends to take this country.
The old man’s pick of Emmanuel Nuquay as running mate is not an accident; it is by clear design. Joe Boakia’s pick of Augustine Ngafuan as Campaign Manager is a further testimony of where he intends to take this country.
The campaign is mainly populated by people from the Old man’s tribe, county, or section of the country. Here is small example of how he have treated some of the younger folks in his campaign: he gave Emmanuel Azango (a Lofa county man) US$15,000 to buy a car while the other group BOFAL (stronger and with more potency), headed by Juash Hodge (a young man from the southeast) gets nothing to support their auxiliary. This is just a small example! They might think it an accident but no it is by design and a lot more await them.
Look around the old man and tell me who you see? You will see the Robert Kpadeh’s and Allison Bako’s of the world. Those are the renowned tribalists and sectionalists. These people are on record for preaching politics of based on bigotry and hatred.
Joe Boakia has not denounce them one day or ever try to clarify that his campaign is better than that and that is because when he sits with them, those are messages he communicates with them.
He uses every opportunity he has to indoctrinate his followers with messages of hate by explaining his life’s story in which he left he was ill-treated by the Congua people. Joe Boakai even believes, as Vice President, that the Congua people still controls him but when he becomes president, he will teach them a lesson.
A few days ago, we saw Joe Boakai, Jr. try to disgrace Mo Ali for publishing something about an “indigenous ticket” as a means of trying to save his father’s face but the truth is, why Joe Boakia, Jr. was sincere in his attempt, his father was the one who send Mo Ali to publish that trash.
Joe Boakai in many ways have been blowing these “dog whistles” and his staunch supporters have been answering to those calls.
I am truly scare for my country. If we elect a man like Joe Boakai, I can guarantee you that our country will re-live the eras of the 1970’s and it will take us many years to arrive back at this point.
Let no one be deceived that Joe Boakai has the capacity to develop this country. There is no world leader that respects his intellectual capacity and he lacks the ability to make a case for international goodwill so the country will not develop economically. This is a fact.
However, on the other hand, Joe Boakai will engage in so much vengeance that the tribal, regional, religious and country-congua divide will widen. Joe Boakai positions himself as though he has a score to settle with certain people and I truly think he does. Let’s not overlook this.
Fellow Liberians, if we want our country to move forward, let’s reject Joe Baokai. He has nothing to offer this country. His record does not show anything that we can rely on.
It seems that his only claim here is his indigenous appeal. And the last time I check, that should not be the only reason for electing someone as president. The presidency is larger than that: we need someone who will unite us; lead us forward; and develop our country. The presidency should not be used to settle scores.
Today, Vice President Joe Boakai seems to be the frontrunner among those who are running for the presidency but his campaign is the most dangerous campaign we have ever witnessed. Joe Boakai wants to be president of Liberia on the basis of his indigenous appeal.
He goes further to narrate how the “congua” people children laughed at him when he attended the College of West Africa (CWA).
I am not sure how these things qualify someone to be president. Besides, how is going to CWA during those days considered a bad thing? He must have been very lucky to go to CWA during those days when many others never imagined such opportunities. How ungrateful can someone be?
Joe Boakai, you were Vice President for 12 years and you did nothing to advance the nation’s cause; you cannot just come now and think that you can blow those dangerous “dog whistles” and this country will feel sorry for you, Uncle Joe, and deliver the presidency to you.
If you truly want to be president, begin to tell the people what you will do for them, how you will do it, and why you didn’t do it when you were vice president?
No Uncle Joe! No! We want a unified country. We are tired of the division. We are tired of score settling; our children deserve a better future and from everything we know, you are the direct opposite of who this country needs.
Boakai Needs To Be Thankful; Not Hateful
I will continue to hammer home this point until Joe Boakai can officially come to terms with it. The message that he has allowed his surrogates to propagate in the political discourse is hateful and it should not be coming from someone like him.
And I know it is coming from him because the only thing he explains to them wherever they meet him is about how badly the “congua” people treated him. Uncle Joe usually brings out all the old documents and year books from his days at the College of West Africa (CWA) and narrates how he was treated.
He goes further to tell that this country is not developed because “the people” never loved this country. Who are the people? Isn’t he one of them after been vice president for 12 years? What more can he ask for?
Honorable Boakia, please take a moment to be true and fair to yourself: you have had the better side of life in Liberia no matter what you want to make people to believe.
You went to CWA! Do you know that means? Several of our parents never had the opportunity to step foot on that campus least to say attend there.
Even if you were the janitor on the campus and other students laughed at you, you still had it far better than most.
How long will you keep the grudge that students laughed at you because you were the janitor?
Do you know how many people would have wanted to trade places with you?
Besides, many of us come to school here in the US and have to do similar jobs, on and off campus. We look at those as opportunities and not grounds for hatred.
But let’s dig further Honorable Vice President! Ever since you left CWA and even when “congua” people ruled this country, you were always in the upper echelon of society.
You have had it good and nice. The system has never discriminated against you in any form or fashion. You had the opportunity for the Government to send you for Master’s degree in the US.
Besides that, Honorable Vice President, when was the last time to raise your voice against vices in society especially during the days when social injustice and inequality were on the rise in our country? No one remembers you saying anything.
The pages of history have never accounted for you in any significant way as someone who recognized the ills in society and spoke against them. Uncle Joe, we want to follow you but please tell us, before now, when did you realize that “the people” never loved this country?
And Uncle Joe, may I remind you that you are the sitting Vice President of the Republic of Liberia and you did not struggle to get to that position. I can even argue that you because you went to CWA that was why you were favored to be running mate in 2005.
What is really bemusing and disturbing is that Uncle Joe, you have had the better side of things and rather than be thankful, you are the originator of hate and division.
Our country has gone through a lot and we deserve to move forward. We need programs that deepen reconciliation rather than political rhetoric that divide our people simply because someone wants to rule them.
Uncle Joe, you have been Vice President for 12 years, it is hard time you tell us what you have done for the people of Lofa or Liberia in general.
It is not alright for you to just sit and cast blames on other people.
You have been the second most power man in this country and you want us to believe that even ministers, representatives and senators were more powerful than you? Then you don’t deserve the presidency.
It means that you don’t know what to do with power and authority and so giving you the presidency will be another wasted opportunity because you might again spend all the time complaining about the past even though you have the power to change things.
But again, now that you were the Vice President for 12 years can we say that you are officially part of “the people” that never loved this country and so that is why it is not built? I am not sure how a vice president is not included that categorization of yours.
This is shameful, Honorable Uncle Joe. Stop it!
Again, I say you should be thankful rather than hateful because God has been good to you.
You now need to let the world know by telling the your supporters that it is immoral and dishonest to preach that message of hate simply to get the presidency.
Momolu Johnson,
[email protected]
