MONROVIA: The opposition Unity Party that is expected to wrestle power from the incumbent Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in 2023 says President George Manneh Weah is behaving like Nero of the Roman Empire, whose kingdom was being ravaged while he indulged in his personal happiness by singing.
Responding to President Weah’s Monday State of the Nation (SONA) regulatory rendition, the Unity Party said President is more preoccupied with releasing music than making policy decisions.
“He played more football, basketball and volleyball matches than he went to work in the entire 2021. He barely goes to work. At work, he barely works. It is a national embarrassment that we have a President who simply does not care about working. For all the talk about his youthful energy, we have seen nothing to indicate that it is being used for the interest of the country. The Unity Party knows what it takes to serve the Liberian people: late nights, long meetings, long hours preparing for big decisions. Our leaders served for 12 years and Liberians saw the long hours they worked to bring results. President Weah doesn’t have that endurance or patience,” the Unity Party said in its immediate reaction to President Weah’s SONA.
Continuing, the UP said the State of the Nation has never been strong since the president took office.
“Maybe when the President talks to his closest advisors, that is the image that they paint. Or maybe the President is just not sincere about where the country is. For those of us who talk to ordinary people, we know there is nothing shiny about the city. From the trash on the street, to the insecurity at night, to the rising cost of education, to inadequate healthcare, the people in this country have been neglected by the President and his government. Mr. President, leave Jamaica, talk to the people, and come back and let us know what you think about the state of the nation,” the Unity Party said in a caustic response Tuesday to President Weah’s Monday Annual Message to the 54th Legislature.
First acknowledging its own shortcomings, the Unity Party said while itself has failed to perfect those ideals, they never lost sight of their obligation to make Liberia better. The UP prayed that while for the next 200 years, the party should not lose sight, and may never lose the conviction that liberty, justice, and equality, it is important to note that the George Weah’s administration continues to fail the people of Liberia while painting a picture that Liberia is a shining city on a hill.
“But we know the truth. And the truth is this: He has more music releases than policy achievements. He played more football, basketball and volleyball matches than he went to work in the entire 2021. He barely goes to work. At work, he barely works. It is a national embarrassment that we have a President who simply does not care about working. For all the talk about his youthful energy, we have seen nothing to indicate that it is being used for the interest of the country. The Unity Party knows what it takes to serve the Liberian people: late nights, long meetings, long hours preparing for big decisions. Our leaders served for 12 years and Liberians saw the long hours they worked to bring results. President Weah doesn’t have that endurance or patience.
“While the President won the Most Valuable Player in the County Meet, we should award him another MVP title: Most Vapid President. The President is low on energy, short of ideas, and simply unfit to steer the affairs of the county.
“Even after four years, the CDC-led Government has manifested President George Manneh Weah’s determination to rule by whim and caprice and to set the country firmly on the path of backwardness. His policies and actions have been characterized by economic retrogression and bad governance. This government has simply rained hardship and pain nonstop on our people. Sadly, he seems to not care.
“We listened with dismay and disappointment as the President address yesterday was grossly insincere, comical and focused on trivialities. He has again wasted a golden opportunity to focus the minds of Liberians and our development partners on the cost of living challenges and herculean tasks of nation-building. Instead, he has left Liberians more confused and disillusioned about the future of their country,” the Unity Party stated.
Going further, the UP said President Weah stated in his SONA that his government has no political prisoners but mysterious deaths are on the rise, yet professionals died in a car and the President prejudiced the case by alleging that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.
“The boss of Internal Audit died and we were informed that he fell from his balcony. Mysterious deaths all resulting from revenue generating agencies of a government where L$16 billion and U$25 million disappeared in thin air,” the UP stated.
Going forward, the UP said, the President also informed Liberians that the Invincible Park Project is 100% funded by him but later on states that NASSCORP, NPA and Maritime supported the project.
“This confirms that our pension money is being used to fund projects that President Weah would boast of as his personal projects. This is why we move to remove George Weah’s government which is facilitating the theft and misappropriation of pension money. This mismanagement might, in fact, soon lead to the collapse of NASSCORP,” the UP said.
The UP also indicated that President Weah boasted in his SONA of press freedom but refused to highlight the high level of media censorship currently practiced by his government. Yet his government has denied some suspected anti-government stations, including Punch FM, the right to operate in Liberia while granting permit to Bana FM only because they are pro government.
“President Weah presides over a deeply divided country, largely of his own making, while paying lip service to promoting national unity. Liberians exercising their legitimate right to protest under the constitution are brutally suppressed with police batons, teargas and water cannons. Petitions demanding answers to serious issues of life and death are treated with scorn by the government. The President has politicized the County Meets, the biggest source of unity since the end of the war. Yet, Liberians remain undeterred and daily life in the country has become characterized by protest. Business confidence is at its lowest as companies seek to relocate to neighboring countries.
“The Unity Party had a full grasp of Liberia’s endowment and potential when it inherited the wasteland of a country in 2006. Roads and bridges were completely destroyed making Monrovia a tapestry of burnt out and bullet riddled buildings. The streets had large craters. Social services and administrative structures were nonexistent throughout the country. The Mt. Coffee hydro dam was destroyed. The country was dark. Liberia was burdened down with inherited external debt of US$4.9 billion with little possibility of further borrowing. Months of arrears owed civil servants and other public sector employees. The country was viewed as a criminal pariah state.
“We brought this country back to life with proven leaders who put in the work, proven leaders who made tough choices, proven leaders who listened, and proven leaders who put the nation above party and above self. We deliver this country and we can do it again. Every sector needed urgent action.
“The Unity Party Government immediately set about restoring Liberia to international respectability and soon removed the stigma of a pariah. We then cultivated the goodwill of the international community and financial institutions to write off Liberia’s US$4.9 billion debt. Under the HIPC arrangement with the World Bank and IMF, the Unity Party government under our leadership initiated prudent economic and fiscal policies. There was no quick fix solution nor did it attempt to mortgage the country’s future in pursuit of bogus and vulture loans.
“These policies helped to garner international confidence. Our development partners worked with us to rebuild infrastructure, establish administrative authority and the rule of law throughout the country and deliver social services. For the first time in our history, we established the County Development Fund (CDF) and Social Development Fund (SDF) to encourage local ownership of the development process and stimulate local entrepreneurship in the counties. These would serve as first steps towards devolution of power,” the UP stated in its retort to President Weah’s SONA.
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