Liberia held a closely contested general and presidential elections in October 2023, which dragged into a presidential runoff in November, with Joseph N. Boakai, the candidate of the Unity Party (UP), becoming victorious with less than 2% of the voting population.
Ambassador Boakai was inaugurated on January 22, 2024 as the 26th President of the Republic of Liberia. During his inaugural address, President Boakai emphasized, “This presidential election was hard fought and looked to have further divided our country politically and regionally. But what unites us is bigger than what divides us. I am therefore extending a hand of cooperation and peace to my political opponents, knowing the common bond between us is ‘Liberia’ and the need to harness its potential for the good of its people. As is said, ‘We must work together or fail separately.’ I am, therefore, assuring all Liberians that I will be the President for all irrespective of whether you voted for me or not, your party affiliation, county, religion, gender, region, and social and economic status. There is no contest between so-called ‘Green Liberia’ and ‘Blue Liberia’, ‘Southeastern Liberia’ and ‘North Central Liberia’. There is only one Liberia! We share a common citizenship!”
But it appears like President Boakai’s statement was only meant for the politics of the day, as he stands accused of giving jobs to only those who supported him and the Rescue Mission while marginalizing the rest.
Over the weekend, President Boakai further extended his “agenda of division” to the first branch of government when he invited only those he termed “rescue lawmakers” to a brainstorming retreat in Tubmanburg, Bomi County.
According to an Executive Mansion release, on Saturday, April 21, 2024 President Boakai hosted an assembly of members of the House of Representatives aligned with the Rescue Mission of the Ruling Unity Party and a team of UP leaders and strategists to a one-day Executive-Legislative Agenda Setting Retreat in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, to compare notes on crafting a more coordinated and effective path to pursuing critical national development goals.
Even though his action was not seeing as in the best interest of reconciliation, the Liberian President and UP Political Leader underscored the need for coordinated and more purposeful working relationship which will engender wider support for the realization of set targets.
The retreat brought together more than 20 members of the House of Representatives who are members or affiliates of the Unity Party Alliance, with participants signing and issuing a joint resolution reflecting their decisions.
The Resolution was signed by Representative Richard N. Koon on behalf of members of the Rescue Legislative Caucus, Acting Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Samuel A. Stevquoah on behalf of the UP administration and Ben Fofana on behalf of Unity Party (UP), and declared that “the ARREST Agenda is the best suited and in sync with the national development demands of our time”.
However, observers are pondering why the President of the Republic would choose to call for a partisan retreat in the face of heightened political division in the country. They say the UP Alliance is mainly made up of three major political parties: Unity Party (UP) with eleven representatives, Liberty Party (LP), six representatives, and the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR), with four representatives, totaling twenty-one (21) lawmakers, and that the participants of the retreat may be drawn from these parties only.
They argue that the “rescue lawmakers” as collaborators could have come up with a retreat and invited the President, but for the President to organize a retreat only for “rescue lawmakers” puts him in a partisanship position, which is counterproductive to the running of the state of affairs.
According to them, rumor emanating from the retreat is that the President has called for those loyal to him in the first branch to re-strategize on how to remove the Coalition for Democratic Change lawmaker, Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa, from the Speaker position in order that they may have smooth ride over matters of interest to them and their party.
A prominent citizen who spoke to the Hot Pepper on the basis of anonymity said President Boakai appears unserious about his drive for national unity. According to the individual, while dismissed agents of the Executive Protection Service (EPS) are claiming that their dismissal is allegedly based on their director’s perception that they are loyal to the former President, Boakai has galvanized only members and supporters of his party to a retreat to discuss matters of interest to their party and not the state. “This is uncalled for, especially at this time when the wounds from the election have not healed,” the individual noted.
Meanwhile, President Boakai has been urged to prioritize the interest of national unity and development, with a reminder that only members and supporters of the Unity Party are insufficient to take the nation to where it ought to be. President Boakai is reminded that the collective effort and collaboration of the three branches of government and its players, insensitive of their political affiliation, are needed on board to make his A.R.R.E.S.T agenda successful.