The George Manneh Weah administration has promised to live up to the expectation of the more than four million people. The Minister of state for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel Falloh McGill, who reechoed this commitment notes the government is obligated to changing the lives of the people as expected of the President.
Minister McGill furthered the first year of President Weah’s six years term was remarkable; the government was able to secure several goodwill and financial commitments from several world bodies and friendly nations to support the CDC’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Development and Prosperity since the start of the administration in 2018.
He noted that President Weah’s first year in office saw lot of goodwill commitments from Liberia’s international partners to support plans for the construction of roads in the country, beginning with ongoing pavement of about 40 community roads in three counties and that will be followed by the commencement of works on the ‘coastal corridor’ roads project in this year, 2019.
McGill made the statement when he addressed the Executive Mansion Press Corps on New Year Day, a day which also coincided with the State & Presidential Affairs Minister’s birth anniversary. Minster McGill said President Weah is committed to the vision of change for which the people of Liberia entrusted the CDC with the mantle of national leadership.
The government will therefore ensure the people of Liberia benefit from their confidence imposed in the CDC leadership of the nation. Public officials who co-drive the national stewardship along with President Weah, especially the government’s pro-poor vision, are equally determined to help achieve the desired change.
Minster McGill, also the Chief of Office Staff of President Weah, spoke of challenges faced by the government. He said the CDC administration is aware of the various challenges for which it was elected to manage the affairs of the state and that President Weah’s leadership has already begun work to ensure that the challenges that the CDC government inherited are addressed through systematic approaches.
The Weah-led administration inherited what it calls a “broken economy” in the face of a missing 16 billion Liberian dollars, an equivalent of almost US$106.66m. The Weah government also inherited high prices and cost of basic goods and services amidst rampant corruption; situations which have been causing depression and social injustices.
But McGill said, “What is now running through my minds for Liberia and my people is what the government can do … to gradually solve the problems that we have been given the opportunity for to serve the country and our people.”
President Weah’s vision for national development throughout Liberia is very high, as such those in government are eventually working collectively to ensure that the president achieve his desire to see Liberia move on to the path of national development, beginning with road construction in the first year of the CDC government, McGill said.
The Minister of State said already, the Weah-led government has secured funding for the coastal corridor road construction plans, which the government has since reviewed as major challenge. The government is also working on creating job opportunities through agriculture development which will be next focus of the government in this year, 2019.
The Weah-led government, Minister McGill said, has strong assurance for the constructions of major highways connecting counties creating access to market roads for people to invest into the agriculture sector so as to lift Liberia and Liberians from economy hardship.
He however underscored that the government of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) is under immerse pressure from the growing population of Liberia with public expectations that the lives of the people will be bettered and improved under the regime of President George Weah.
Liberia, a small country along the West Coast of Africa bordering Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean has the population of some 4.5 million people, according to the country’s 2008 census; but recent suggestions by social workers have submitted that the population has slightly increased.
During the 2017 presidential race, majority of the voting population that popularly preferred the CDC’s George Weah over his main contender Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party (UP) believed that Dr. Weah will change the lives of the impoverished people, most of whom lived on barely less than one United States dollar a day.
Irrespective of this pressure from the people, Presidential Affairs Minister McGill reiterated the government’s promise that the tripartite Coalition of Democratic Change, which is just ending its first year in office, will turn the tides of the hard standard of living to a positively approachable standard of living.
McGill noted that over the years, there are millions of Dollars invested to develop the agriculture sector by Liberia’s international partners. He however regretted Liberians are yet not self-sufficient in food production in spite of the huge investment in agriculture during the past five years.
The government, McGill indicated, has changed the strategy employed by past regime during the last five years that has wasted the millions of foreign currency deployed in the agriculture sector without any benefit to the sector and the people.
The CDC government, he noted, has decided to use new approach in dealing with Liberia’s partners to invest into agriculture. The new methodology, he pointed out is to allow partners to direct investment into agriculture to the people themselves so as to help them to get more involved into farming to grow and supply agricultural produce on the Liberian market.
By so doing, Jobs are being created to address the situation of unemployment and at the same time make the country self-sufficient in food production.
He said the government is very determined in encouraging and supervising the government’s partners to support President Weah and the government’s vision to make Liberia a self-sufficient nation in the area of agriculture investment in the sub region, adding that the way President Weah continues to inspire his cabinet motivates “…us to deliver, I can see ministers in this government working harder to succeed”
The Minister State for presidential affairs concluded by stressing that it is his greatest prayer for Liberia and Liberians to always remain peaceful keep together like one family regardless of their political, tribal and religious connections.
Comments are closed.