EX-VICE PRESIDENT, AMBASSADOR Joseph N. Boakai, is the Standard Bearer of the Unity Party (UP), one of the parties within the four Collaborating Political Parties (CPP). Boakai is expected to contest in the CPP primaries for its standard bearer-ship, and if elected he is expected to become the main contender to President Weah, leader of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
WITH THE CPP convention in sight, Standard Bearer Boakai is leaving no stone unturned in his resolve to capture the Standard Bearer position of the his party and take on incumbent President, George M Weah, in 2023. Quite recently, Boakai, coming down on the Weah administration, stated, “When we talk about road, I’m not talking about putting a road on the sidewalk in Monrovia or constructing a US$50,000 road and exaggerating it to US$3 million; we are talking about roads that will open up the country, open up opportunities, get businesses going and reduce dependency. That’s what we are talking about.”
ALEXANDER CUMMINGS, ONE of the contenders for the Standard Bearer position of the CPP, is, too, preparing for 2023. Cummings recently spoke his mind on the Weah government, delving into a number of issues. On corruption, he said, “It is hard to stop stealing in government when the people who should be stopping the stealing and setting the good examples by not stealing are actually the rogues. It is also hard to punish anyone for crimes, however bad, when the leaders are looking for special favors from the criminals, or are themselves, benefiting from the crimes.”
NOW ANTICIPATING STANDARD Bearer Joseph Boakai is back in the battle for 2023. This time he has opened up on the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf administration, in the hope of distancing himself from any policy or action of the Sirleaf era that may be counterproductive to his objective: winning the CPP convention for the Standard Bearer office. He has termed cabinet ministers during the Sirleaf administration as PowerPoint ministers who were only good at presentation and explanation but worth nothing in terms of implementation.
CPP STANDARD BEARER hopeful Boakai noted that many of the shortcomings of the Sirleaf regime were mostly due to their lack of implementation plan, coupled with a cabinet that only had their personal interest at heart. According to him, each time a cabinet meeting was adjoined, President Sirleaf would ask him, “Joe, what do you think?” and he would state, “We need to implement.”
BOAKAI LAMENTED THAT many of his recommendations forwarded to President Sirleaf were not heeded, leaving him in a system that was flooded with individuals who did not have the country at heart and were only after what they could amass for themselves through the positions entrusted them by the people.
EXACTLY HOW WELL Boakai’s coming down on the Weah government and the Sirleaf administration will serve his objective of winning the CPP Standard Bearer office may be determinable from the response of the public to his observations, but the actual determination will come in 2023 in the response of the Liberian people at the ballot box.