MONROVIA: As President George Manneh Weah continues to make his case for re-election on the record of his achievements in his first term, a powerful women group in Zoe Geh District, Nimba county, has become one of the latest active and political conscious groups in the country to endorse him.
The group declared its embrace the of president’s pursuits for continued development and transformation in the country, and has made a strong commitment to actualize the aspiration with whatever resources and energy to their disposal during the ensuing 2023 general elections.
At a well-attended program held on Saturday, September 3, 2023, in Bahn City, Nimba County, the women stated unequivocally that their decision to enlist themselves in the re-election project of President Weah was based on the enormity of developments undertaken throughout the country with trigger-down effect on the ordinary citizen, especially in rural Liberia.
The women group made specific reference to the construction of roads in Nimba, the ongoing construction of a modern high school in Bahn, the donation of school buses in the county, and other empowerment initiatives by the government.
The endorsement is being seen as a major boost to President Weah’s quest for re-election against the background that a son of the soil, Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung, is contesting as the running mate to the former Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai on the ticket of the Unity Party.
Expectations were that Nimba County should be a “comfort zone of the opposition party”, particularly for former ruling Unity Party.
The women, speaking through their spokesperson, Madam Lydia Menwon, said it took several weeks of wide consultation across the broad spectrum of women groups who are making impacts in the county and desirous of seeing progressive outcomes from the ensuing elections where decision made at the polls will reflect the candidate’s vision to move the country forward.
Thus, the group said: “We came to the conclusion that President Weah is the neat fit in the category far ahead the other contenders with the pedigree to give this country as purposeful leadership.”
“We have been meeting for the past weeks across the county to ask ourselves which of the candidates contesting the elections we should support,” the group said in a prepared endorsement statement.
“Several reasons were attached to almost all the candidates but at the end of the day there was a unanimous decision to support the re-election bid of President Weah based on the level of development undertaken and executed successfully throughout the country.
“There are several achievements we considered but few come to focus and include but are not limited to his political will to ensure that we have sustained peace after the departure of UNMIL to the extent that there are no political prisoners and no crisis that will endanger the peace we are enjoying today has ever occurred.”
The statement continued: “As parents, our perennial burden of WASSCE fees and tuition at public higher institutions of learning was removed by this President who since his inauguration has been paying the WASSCE fees and made tuition free in government universities and colleges throughout the country.”
The spokesperson further highlighted the gender sensitivity of the President wherein a lot of women are holding key positions, playing active leadership role and wielding enormous influence in the country.
“This is one of the key qualities you see in a leadership who is not only responsive to the needs of his citizens but also conscious enough to balance governance and decision making across the gender divide by bringing on board women in top leadership position and giving them responsibilities to effective contribute to the overall development of the country.
“What more can we expect from a President who is unarguably a true “feminist in chief” by deeds and not just words. He has elevated the call for women to take responsibility leadership role in this country as well as bringing them on the table where decisions effecting the country, including women related issues are discussed. We cannot say we are there already but we are getting there and will be there under his administration as has already being demonstrated.”
The group boasted that the records of previous elections where they voted for President Weah which culminated into his election to the presidency in 2017 will be broken this time around, adding: “We are going to vote him and convince others to do similar thing and definitely the result will be a one round victory for him”.
Speaking further the women said as a demonstration of their commitment to ensure that President is elected in the first round, they will be deploying their own resources to execute the project by moving from door to door, community to communities, district to districts, etc. to get the message down to the people “who are the real voters and not those who continue to attend rallies upon rallies without voting rights and just deceiving people”.
The Nimba women further noted: “Our endorsement of the President was never induced by any material gains; it was decided by our free will and we are not going to look elsewhere for any support. We are going to use our money, time, efforts and resources to get our objective to the finish lines because we believe it is a just cause.”
Also at the program were goodwill messages that came from several other women and youth groups who in their separate messages said they were joining the crusade to make the re-election of President Weah a reality.
In a short and succinct message to the audience, Miss Noraline Mammie Saye, who said she is leading a female group with interest in support of Girl Child education, stated that it was time Liberians began to award people or leaders who have demonstrated and excelled in living up to the expectation of the responsibilities they were entrusted with, asserting that President Weah in his six years has shown that he can be entrusted with bigger responsibilities.”
“We will be in the trenches to deliver victory to this exemplary leader on October 10, 2023,” she vowed.
“For a long time, we have been deceived by our leaders who are only after their own personal interests but here comes a young and great visionary from the slum community mounting the saddle of leadership and undoing the retrogressive tendencies that have engulfed our governance system,” the group’s leader said.
“In a short time, we have seen unprecedented developments across the country in all sectors and if you are blind to see them; you can feel them and if you are ungrateful to acknowledge them, posterity will not follow you on that route. President Weah deserves a resounding victory so that he can consolidate on the gains of the first term to bring more developments,” Miss Saye said amidst cheers and the echoes of “Weah One Round, “Dah Weah we want”.
Meanwhile, the women groups have started massive preparation ahead of President Weah’s visit to Nimba County very soon in continuation of his nationwide campaign towards the October 10, 2023 general elections.
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