Monrovia – Ms. Telia Urey, a candidate for District No. 15 in next month’s Legislative By-Elections in Liberia wasted no time Monday breaking her silence to take President George Manneh Weah to task for labeling her a “little girl”.
“You are referring to me a political actor as a little girl? You trying to demean me? You trying to bully me? You’re trying to scare me from being involved in the process? You trying to scare women from being involved in the process? You cannot intimidate me, George. I know where I stand, I know what I’m going to do, I know what I want, I will never be intimidated by you.”
Telia Urey, Candidate, Montserrado County District No. 15
President Weah, while launching the candidacy of the ruling party’s senatorial and legislative by-elections candidate last Saturday, described businessman Benoni Urey and his family as losers with poor results in elections.
Appearing on the highly-rated Henry Costa morning Show Monday, Telia, one of Mr. Urey’s daughter, who is going up against the ruling party’s candidate, Abu Kamara, said she has not slept well since the President used the party’s headquarters’ podium to go after her.
“For the past two nights, if have not slept well because I am in fear. When you have the President telling his people that we are wicked, that we are killers, that we are thieves, telling his people, flog that little girl, we don’t know what that means. It could mean – physically flog me! I don’t know what it means but we all saw what happened to Geraldine Doe-Sheriff here, they were throwing petrol bombs at her house, you understand what I mean?”
Feeling Threatened
“He talks about being a winner but you have to be able to tell the difference between winning and leading. You are not a winner if you win an election and fail your people; you’re not a winner if you win an election and you have failed governance; you’re not a winner if people are suffering, people are begging you to change some of the things that you are doing but you are mute, you are not doing anything, you can’t even publish your assets.”
Telia Urey, Candidate, Montserrado County District No. 15
Ms. Urey says she feels threatened by the President’s utterances especially during this important electoral process where votes are at stake. “I feel threatened. Besides that, I’m in an electoral process. I’m putting my time, my resources, my emotions in this process and the president is saying that I will never win, the President controls NEC, the President controls the government, so, what does that action mean? It bothers me.”
Ms. Urey threw pointed jabs at the President for failing to use the podium to explain the plans his two candidates have should voters entrust them with their votes.
Said Ms. Urey: “Did you notice, that he did not say for once, what his two candidates were going to do for his people in District 15 and Montserrado County? This is a complete repeat of what he did in his campaign. He didn’t tell people anything that he would and definitely now he’s doing things. So, is that what he’s telling us that he would do? We should elect people based on hate, based on divisiveness? You spent five minutes out of your speech on this little girl.”
“You need to put your thinking cap on, look at the people who made you a winner, focus on improving their lives, focus on developing this country and that’s when we will clap for you and say, yes, Gbehkubeh that winner. Now, you’re not.”
Telia Urey, Candidate, Montserrado County District No. 15
Ms. Urey, who said that the President looked disjointed during his appearance last Saturday lamented that his verbal assaults came just days after his wife, First Lady Clar Weah launched her much-touted She’s You Movement. “You are referring to me a political actor as a little girl? You trying to demean me? You trying to bully me? You’re trying to scare me from being involved in the process? You trying to scare women from being involved in the process? You cannot intimidate me, George. I know where I stand, I know what I’m going to do, I know what I want, I will never be intimidated by you.”
Ms. Urey also rejected the President’s claims made at the party’s headquarters last Saturday that he nurtured her. To the contrary, Ms. Urey said, she and her family helped Mr. Weah when he was in the opposition and seeking the presidency. “He talks about nurturing me? I want to make something very clear; I don’t know what he means by nurturing me. But I want to tell him is that I nurture you. When I say I nurtured you it means that I nurtured the CDC that we all loved and we all believed in and we all saw as our only hope to save us from the exploitation and poor leadership that we saw under Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s first term. So, for you to say that you nurtured me, I think that is a joke. You know what I did for CDC, the office that you all are sitting in today, you know how you got the offices, you know the work that I did, that party – Mulbah Morlue, Nathaniel McGill, Jefferson Koijee, all of those boys they know me very well, they know what I’ve done.”
Winner vs. Leadership: ‘ Winners Don’t Fail People’
On the President’s labeling of her dad as a thief and a killer, Ms. Urey it is ironic that the President who just appointed “Corruption King Kong”, former speaker Alex Tyler to a government post is now calling others thieves. “You talk about people twelve years of stealing. How can you talk about twelve years of stealing with all of the former government officials sitting right next to you? What does that mean? You just appointed Alex Tyler. But you insulting us and telling us that we’re corruption people. Is it not you who claim that you are a winner that partnered with the same twelve-year people to win the election that you are insulting us for, because we have stood our grounds, we have remained consistent? – even if it takes us being opposition for the rest of our lives but we will not compromise ourselves the way that some of you have, Mr. Winner? This is wrong.”
Ms. Urey also rejected the President’s claims that he is a winner, declaring that the President does not know the difference between being a winner and being a leader. “He talks about being a winner but you have to be able to tell the difference between winning and leading. You are not a winner if you win an election and fail your people; you’re not a winner if you win an election and you have failed governance; you’re not a winner if people are suffering, people are begging you to change some of the things that you are doing but you are mute, you are not doing anything, you can’t even publish your assets.”
She took at the President over his contentions that he had properties prior to winning the presidency. “You talk about owning lands in Liberia but those lands were empty lands. When you became President before mansions came on them. How? I know you very well. I know you very, very well to know that you could not afford to even buy a car before you say that you were building buildings. You were not able to do that, so stop being insincere to your people, be sincere to us, you are a winner only because some of us believe in you; you are a winner only because some of us believe that you should lead to change all of our lives. You’re not a winner because God made you a winner. You’re a winner because of us. But if you don’t see that, you’re bragging and jumping and dancing, you dancing left and right, you so proud with the way our country is going, it shows that you are not sincere about this country, you’re not sincere about the people of this country. You have nothing to celebrate George, you have nothing to celebrate for.”
Ms. Urey says her family’s investment in Liberia far surpasses anything Mr. Weah has done for the country. “You said the Urey family are not being associated with victory, do not make that mistake, winning an election does not make you a winner. The Urey’s investment, the Urey’s humanitarian efforts, the Urey’s contribution to this country, you cannot even measure ten percent to it. Put Benoni Urey aside, we, his children, what we have accomplished as young people in this country, how we have given back in this country, we are definitely winners. You are not a winner because you went and Africa Best, World Best and European Best and you did nothing for the people of this country. Where can we see one sports academy for the people of this country.
‘Put on Thinking Cap, President Urged
All the places you building now. You know what Urey did with his land? He put farm there where he employing people. What did you do with yours? They were empty lands until you started building mansions on them when you became President to rent out and to take money back form it- with our money. So, we are not losers, we will never be losers.”
Ms. Urey challenged the President to put on his thinking cap reshape his focus to delivering for the Liberian people. “You need to put your thinking cap on, look at the people who made you a winner, focus on improving their lives, focus on developing this country and that’s when we will clap for you and say, yes, Gbehkubeh that winner. Now, you’re not.”