–Independence Day Orator
The Orator of the July 26, 2024 Independence Day celebration, Dr. Robtel Neajai Pailey, has slope down on Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s ARREST Agenda, noting that it appears more like a multi-sectoral development wish-list than a broad-based vision for the future, and proposed that the phrase, “Dignity Must Define Us”, be used as the unifying anchor for this administration’s national development plan.
Dr. Pailey underscored that the process of managing change and delivering public goods must be Liberian-led, Liberian-financed and Liberian-managed, recommending that President Boakai run the Executive branch like the well-oiled machine it should be.
She urged the President to schedule quarterly presidential town hall discussions on the state broadcaster so that citizens can converse with him in real time, and mandate his ministers and heads of state-owned enterprises to do the same. “The Liberian people elected an Executive they presumed would be accessible and accountable. Please, please, please, do not disappoint them,” she told President Boakai.
The Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics said, though President Boakai inherited a laundry list of priorities to tackle, he should focus on a handful of tangible goals in the next six years and work on achieving results. “Forget about political niceties or partisanship and institute swift reforms that will cement your legacy as a respected statesman,” she recommended.
“Do you want to be remembered for condoning lawlessness or respecting the rule of law? In regards to the former, you have made some mistakes along the way—from the tenured positions debacle, to the appointments of questionable characters in key positions of trust (you know who they are), to the controversy of what I call ‘yellow machine gate’,” she lamented. She then urged President Boakai to course correct before he loses the confidence of the Liberian people. “Assemble a diverse and nationally representative team of competent and committed Liberians with integrity; devise mutually agreeable, time-bound deliverables for them to achieve; and hold them accountable. Demand that all appointees roll up their sleeves and get to work or move out of the way of progress,” she further recommended.
