Liberia’s presidential election

ON January 22, 2018, Senator George Manneh Weah will be inaugurated as Liberia’s president. He will be succeeding President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who has held that office for the past 12 years. The inauguration will be Liberia’s first peaceful change of power from one government to another in 70 years. It involves the transfer of power from the political party in government, the Unity Party (UP), to the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC). The Joint Presidential Transition Team set up by incumbent President Sirleaf held its first meeting on January 1 at the Cecil Dennis Auditorium at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ahead of the inauguration. President-elect Weah’s deputy, Helen Taylor, ex-wife of former President Charles Taylor, was also at the meeting with other delegates from both sides. The team will organise the smooth transfer of power and enable the CDC government to take off effectively.

The Head of the African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM), Mr. Erastus Mwencha, described the Liberian run-off election held on December 26 as orderly, efficient, calm and peaceful. The AUEOM team observed that there was significant improvement in the management of the process and the general election environment. Similarly, the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission led by former President of Ghana, Mr. John Mahama, noted: “On the whole, the processing of voters and the casting of ballots followed acceptable standards and were in accordance with the laws and procedures governing elections in the country.’’ The observers congratulated Liberians on their patience, determination and peaceful conduct, enjoining them to allow the same spirit to permeate the transition process. The U.S.-based Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute echoed these assessments on the election. We congratulate the Liberian people on their steadfastness.

The elections saw former soccer star, Weah, defeat the incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai by winning 61.5 per cent of the vote. Earlier, during the first-round election in October which was marked by a remarkable 74.35 per cent voter turnout, he led 18 other presidential candidates with 38.4 per cent of the vote. He was followed by  Boakai with 28.8 per cent. The second round was delayed by more than a month because the third-place finisher in the first round challenged the election in court on the allegation of fraud. The Supreme Court ultimately rejected the challenge.

We wish Senator Weah an eventful tenure. He is reputed to have been a patriot and philanthropist as a football player. During the country’s civil war, he encouraged peacekeepers to come to Liberia, supported the disarmament of child soldiers, helped displaced Liberians in neighbouring countries, contributed funds to the Lone Star, Liberia’s national team, and became United Nations peace ambassador promoting peace.

Indeed, Weah’s ascension to power through the ballot box is the first among the so-called natives who have consistently decried the domination of political power by Americo-Liberians until 1980 when native non-commissioned soldiers through the April 12 1980 coup d’etat led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe forcibly took power. Doe’s government ended in a civil war in which he was killed. President Taylor came into power via the post-conflict election in 1997. But he too was removed by force, in part by internal warring forces and also by international powers, for alleged war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone. His removal paved the way for the election in 2005 which brought President Sirleaf and the UP to power.                 Instructively, Weah’s road to the presidency is a story of rags to riches. He grew up in Clara Town slum in Monrovia and went on to become the only African to win the FIFA World Player of the Year, starring for AC Milan, Paris St. Germain and Chelsea FC. When he decided to join politics, his background as a secondary school dropout became a major setback. But he returned to school and went on to acquire a Master’s degree. He then won a seat in the Senate from Monserrado County.

President-elect Weah must never lose sight of the fact that Liberia experienced a 14-year civil war from the 1990s to the early 2000s, in part due to the violation of constitutional rights and lust for power. Normalcy returned to the country only after a very gruesome experience in human wickedness and suffering. It took the efforts of the international community, especially the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), and the Liberian people to re-establish peace, security and stability. Today, many Liberians suffer from extreme poverty, hardship and desperation. Corruption remains a big challenge. The vast resources of the country have been squandered, plundered and pillaged by corrupt politicians. Thus, the results of the elections reflect a vote for change and an expression of anger and disappointment. The elections have gone on smoothly. It is time for Weah and his government to deepen the peace, sustain stability and advance inclusive development through good governance in Liberia.