MONROVIA: As Liberia prepares for the crucial 2023 general election and various presidential tickets are emerging on the scene, the Standard Bearer and political leader of the Liberian National Union(LINU) Dr. Clarence Moniba has said his party has presented the best ticket to the Liberian people which, according to him is the “New Face of Liberia” that will ensure that Liberia rises from the state of backwardness it has been thrown due to bad governance and ineptitude plaguing the country.
Dr. Moniba made the assertion on Friday, June 30, 2023 at the National Headquarters of the Party when he officially presented Madam Grace Kpan, former Superintendent of Montserrado County as his running mate in the ensuing October 10, 2023 general election in a colorful ceremony, graced by party stalwarts and hundreds of other members and well- wishers.
Moniba told the audience that the election will be about the present state of the country where mismanagement of the country’s resources, corruption and incompetence have led majority of the citizens into poverty, untold hardship and distress, stressing that until something drastic is done by electing the right people in 2023, it will be dangerous for the future. He then used the occasion to lay down reasons for picking Madam Grace Kpan on his journey for the presidency.
“So on this journey we are on, we have to find someone who is as dedicated as I was. We have to find somebody who has fought corruption at the highest level in this country.
“We have to find somebody who has executive leadership experience in this country. We said we need a new Liberia and that is why we have to do things differently.
“I have picked somebody who will be able to fight with me on every single day; I have picked somebody who has executive experience at the highest level; the person has been able to fight corruption at the highest level in this country.
“The person has worked for God. So with Grace Kpan, we are winning it, we are going to take over the country. This is the Face of a New Liberia, we are going to work to change this country.
“Thank you Grace for joining me on this journey; we will fight together, work together and fix Liberia together”, Dr. Moniba said, and received resounding cheers and slogans from the audience.
He said Liberia has got no time on its side and dismissed the insinuations from some people that he is too young to lead the country and that he needs to wait for the future “so that others who are prepared to take over”.
“I am 44, and people are saying I am young, that I should wait for the future as if to know they know my future. And that is what is taking the country backward. Liberia does not have the time to waste or to wait. This election is about dealing with our present which is not good so that we can have a better future.
“We are not doing it for 2029, we are doing it for 2023, this is no way we are going to continue all this country to go down the drain.
“That is why when you see me, you see the future of this country. We will see the better and brighter future of this country through this election. We will see a new Liberia, a country where everything will work and I can assure that our administration will fight corruption, waste and make sure that the resources of this country benefit every citizen”, Moniba said, amid cheers from the
Speaking later in her acceptance remarks, Madam Grace Kpan expressed her appreciation for her selection and promised to be a team player for the realization of the presidency with Dr. Moniba being the arrowhead of the process and raised the hope of the audience that they will not be disappointed in the ticket to deliver the best leadership if the party wins the ensuing election.
“Few weeks ago, Liberia and politicians woke up to a new day when they heard that I was chosen and I have accepted to run with Dr. Clarence Moniba as his Vice Standard Bearer. I can assure you, we have hit the ground running. We are ready to make this Liberia a new Liberia.
“We want a new Liberia where no one will eat your own. If you do not come up with your family members and friends to make this, we will continue to remain backwards”, she said amid cheers.
She told the crowd that they should begin to reject being referred to as grassrooters because its real meaning to the politicians is a people that should be at the lowest ladder of the society perpetually but under the Moniba-Kpan administration “you will rise up again”.
Perhaps to showcase her history of fighting corruption, Madam Kpan used the occasion to relive her experience in busting a well known corruption case involving a former representative of Montserrado County, Dr. Edward Forh, which is commonly referenced in Liberia as “I eat, you eat saga”.
“When I was coming up here, someone told me to please explain about the “I eat, you eat”. So let me explain it so those of you who didn’t understand it will understand it. I made the recording and I released the recording; a recording of a lawmaker who wanted to eat and he did not say you eat, I eat.
‘He said, I eat, you eat, the Minister eats, and I said I am scared to eat and he said then I will eat your own.
“We want a Liberia where no one will eat your own”, he said and got a standing ovation.
Madam said the country is at a crossroads and until the people who have the power to effect change can act rightly, the country will not go anywhere, adding that those who are not willing for the changes to come are fighting with all their resources to frustrate the change.
She spoke of her stewardship as Superintendent of Montserrado where she told bold steps to visit slumps, ghettos and other underdeveloped communities and provided solutions to some of the prevailing conditions the dwellers were facing and promised to replicate some of the solutions on the national stage when the ticket is elected.
“Today is the dawn of a new day and with our hearts, our hands we can defend this country. I love the song of a young Liberian President, who was at the age of 19, he wrote this song and at the age 40, he became President. So he was younger than our Standard Bearer, President Edwin Barclay.
He said in the forward song freedom march, defend your sacred heritage, defend it with all your sweat, defend it with all your tears, defend it with your body on the day of election, defend it, defend it and you can do it.
“So we call on you to come with your family, your friends and come on October 10, 2023, we will see this new Liberia, may God bless all of you”, she concluded.
Early, partisans and supporters of the party had met at two locations to receive Dr. Moniba and Madam Kpan from where they marched to the National Headquarters of the party for the occasion. One group was stationed at Vamoma House in Sinkor to receive Dr. Moniba and another group received Madam Kpan before proceeding for the program.
Meanwhile, the party has released the list of legislative aspirants on its platform for the ensuing election from the various counties, among them is Mrs. Julia Duncan Cassell, former Superintendent of Grand Bassa County and former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection who is vying for the representative seat for District #3.
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