MONROVIA: With no section or region willing to be left out in where their loyalty lies in the ensuing October 10, 2023, citizens of River Gee County both at home and in Montserrado and its environs on Saturday, August 5, 2023 added to the swelling support base of the President George Manneh Weah when they unequivocally launched the River Gee for Weah initiative, a political project to support the re-election bid of the President and vowed to ensure that come October 10, 2023, the citizens of the county will cast their votes enmasse for the president for what his outstanding stewardship “which promises to be better in his second term”
The commitment from the citizens was contained in a resolution, tagged, “The Claratown-Doe Community Declaration”, read at an elaborate program held at the recently constructed Survival Sports Ground in Clara Town, District #14, Montserrado County attended by multitude of citizens from River Gee County wherein they catalogued the historicity of underdevelopment of Liberia from independence, the various policies adopted by successive governments, the challenges and prospects of the various circumstances that existed and the ones that were practical and realistic towards lifting a large segment of Liberians from poverty to prosperity.
“The point is, the entrenched systemic and structural challenges that characterize Liberia’s national economy, since the 1940s, 50s and 60s, up to present, that seem to defy all solutions, cannot be addressed totally in five years of you administration. The socio-economic developmental challenges of Liberia are 176 years old, and certainly the resolution of these problems cannot be dumped on the head of someone who is innocent of said problems. Those who have been part of the problem, having worked in government for more than forty years, and failed to address the roots of the problem, should remain silent, because they have no moral credentials here.
“The Unity Party, for example, was in power for twelve years, and left behind a wrecked economy. They introduced “Poverty Reduction Strategies I and II” as well as their “7-Year Agenda for Transformation, and in the end, they reduced not an inch of poverty, created no jobs, and transformed nothing. They themselves admitted that twelve years of the Unity Party in power was a “squander” (waste of time). Thus, the Liberian people do not have the luxury to experiment for the second time with people that have failed for twelve years. Certainly, the Unity Party and Boakai cannot be an alternative for Liberia. The rest of the opposition are daydreamers.
“Mr. President, as we celebrate the successes of your first term, we have no doubt your second term will decisively be directed at the Liberian economy, to buttress achievements made during your first term – this we are convinced about.
“Mr. President, in view of the foregoing, now, therefore, we, the citizens and inhabitants of the Doe and Clara Town Communities, backed by the whole of River Gee County, the county of Grebo Land, the third largest nation of Liberia, do hereby declare and decree that October 10, shall produce a one shot deal (and no second round) for the re-electing you, Dr. George Manneh Weah, as the next President of the Republic of Liberia’, part of the resolution read.
Earlier in the resolution, the citizens enumerated many achievements of President Weah in several thematic areas since his ascendency to the Liberian presidency in 2018 despite mounting challenges which include but not limited to education, good governance and rule of law, agriculture, Gender related issues, the economy, infrastructure, health, among others.
The citizens graded President Weah for what they termed as “an unprecedented feat” in the area of education and agriculture, two critical sectors that every serious nation must prioritize.
“Under your administration, for the first time in the history of Liberia, all state run universities and colleges, including the University of Liberia, the largest state-owned, and the WVS Tubman Technical University, etc., are all tuitions free, while being state subsidized and fully funded budgetarily; The Weah administration policy on the payment of WAEC Fees for high school students remains in full swing, a major achievement of the Pro-Poor Agenda of the CDC Government;
“As stated earlier, roads and electricity are the backbone for agricultural development everywhere in the world – the roads are means for access to the markets for agricultural products; and electricity leads to processing of agricultural products as well as for irrigation and preservation of agricultural produce, etc. Under your administration, the Ministry of Agriculture has provided funding to hundreds of small farmers in rural Liberia, thereby moving these farmers from subsistence to semi-mechanized or processing; Currently, the MoA has offered scholarships to over 30 young Liberians doing advanced studies abroad in various fields in Agriculture – this is human capital; through the World Bank, the MoA has provided grants that have changed 30 farmers to processors, Impacts from these strategic interventions plus others in agriculture are bound to be felt in due course. Additionally, Mr. President, fisheries, a major sector of Liberia’s agricultural program, has proved to be very encouraging, with improvements and modernization of the fishery sector”, the resolution said.
The resolution also touched on the national security architecture of the country and commended the President for overseeing a nation at a critical point in the country’s history when the multinational UNMIL force departed Liberia right after his inauguration
“For six (6) years today, Mr. President, as Commander-in-Chief and Chairman of the National Security Council of Liberia, you ably managed the national security of Liberia and steered the state of affairs of the Republic, with firm support from the Liberian people, with no foreign troops on the ground, the first of its kind throughout the history of the Liberian Civil War (applause)!
“For fourteen years, all war-related and post-war leaders of Liberia have relied on foreign troops and security forces for national security in Liberia, including President Samuel Doe (ECOMOG); Professor Amos C. Sawyer ( IGNU – ECOMOG); Cllr. David Donald Kpormakpor (”Council of State”- ECOMOG); Honorable Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry (Second “Council of State” -ECOMOG); Professor Wilton Gbakolo Sengbe Sankawulo, Sr. (Third “Council of State”-ECOMOG); Charles G. Taylor (GoL – ECOMOG); Charles Jyude Bryant (LNTG – UNMIL); and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (GoL–UNMIL) – all of those Liberian leaders enjoyed the comfort and luxuries of national security provided by ECOMOG and UNNMIL; you, President Weah are an exception. When you ascended to power on the departure of UNMMIL, Mr. President, doubting Thomases in and out of the country, doubted your ability to have successfully led the country; some people even predicted within six (6) months your government would have collapsed. Today, you have proven your skeptics wrong, with the support of the Liberian people, and by the Grace of Jehovah God”, the resolution said.
Speaking further on President’s achievement, the citizens touched on his “unparalleled infrastructural development landscape especially road construction where he was affectionately named “Bad Road Medicine”
“Here, the Clara Town and Doe Communities were an evidence of your “Hope We Can Count On”. Our communities are no longer no go zones in terms of inaccessibility by filthy-muddy roads; since 1847, we suffered from slum and filthy muds like in many other slum communities in Monrovia.
“Mr. President, you just dedicated a modern multi-purpose sports facility intended for the youth, children and elders of our two communities –Clara Town and Doe Community – and for the benefit of other surrounding communities. Other multi-purpose sport complexes constructed are the popular Invincible Park opposite the Fish Market as well as dozens of low cost houses for inhabitants of the James Spriggs Payne Airfield-Old Road area; as well as the PHP Multi-purpose Sports Complex. Mr. President, only you, could bring these modern developments to the slum communities. Only a victim of slum as we have been, could do this for us; for this, we salute you.
“Mr. President, significantly, in a short period of barely six (6) years of your first term in office, you are the first President of Liberia in the shortest period to have constructed the highest number of Kilometers of all-weather paved roads and streets making slum communities and other areas of Monrovia, for the first time, to be accessible, comfortable and livable; others include inter-county strategic roads, creating economic corridors to boost economic activities, growth and development, including trade, commerce and the smooth movement of people, goods and services throughout the country;
“Such critical roads firstly include the following community streets, besides here, in Clara town and Doe Community; they are: the entire District 9 Community that was a slum, where the opposition leader former Vice President resided as Vice President for twelve (12) years. Shortly after your ascendency, as Gbaku-Wleh, you paved all the outlets within District 9 Community, including around the former Vice President’s residence. Today, District 9 Community is referred to as Liberia’s “Miami”. These are the little things that matter in national leadership.
“Mr. President other critical road projects of yours include: completion of the Somalia Drive-Japanese Free Way; the Johnsonville-Mount Barclay Road; the ELWA-Red Light-Cocola Factory Road Corridor; the Gbarnga-Salayea Road project – ongoing; the Ganta-Sanniquille-Logatou Road Corrodor; the Plebo-Fish Town Road; the Harper-Kanweaken Road; the Nimba- Tarpeteh-Grand Gedeh Road Corrodor – ongoing; the fabulous ELWA Junction-RIA Road Axis – on-going; the Freeport-St Paul Bridge Road Corridor – ongoing, etc.; etc.”, the citizens said.
The citizens also lauded President Weah as a “Team Player” and highlighted his role as a reconciler and unifier who worked for the restoration of peace during the 14 years of civil war, serving as Peace Ambassador and then becoming senator of Montserrado County before ascending to the Presidency in 2018..
“For six (6) years, as president and Commander-in-Chief of the Republic, you, President George M. Weah, have successfully managed and spearheaded the Coalition for Democratic Change at the helm of power as a team player. The Coalition for Democratic Change, led by the Mighty Congress for Democratic Change, the largest state-run coalition historically, comprises other vibrant political parties as well as groups and individuals during the period under review. Since your incumbency, despite the global economic crises of endless inflations, intensified by COVID-19 and its consequences, coupled with a major on-going regional war in Europe, Mr. President, you have proven to be a better and genuine team-playing leader in steering the affairs of Liberia, under very complex circumstances, to the surprise of the skeptics and your detractors, both at home and abroad.
“As a national team player, you, President Weah, have demonstrated national leadership through coalition building as a statesman; this is the kind of leadership that post-war Liberia needs for national reconciliation and unity. It doesn’t mean that everything within the Coalition for Democratic Change Administration has always been rosy at all times; we may have had our differences within the coalition government, but at the end of the day, virtue and good faith, not tricks, were brought into leadership, and the ship has sailed well to this point, for final victory on October 10”, the citizens said..
“Mr. President, in view of the foregoing, now, therefore, we, the citizens and inhabitants of the Doe and Clara Town Communities, backed by the whole of River Gee County, the county of Grebo Land, the third largest nation of Liberia, do hereby declare and decree that October 10, shall produce a one shot deal (and no second round) for the re-electing you, Dr. George Manneh Weah, as the next President of the Republic of Liberia.
“By this Declaration of matchless support by Clara Town, the Doe Community, and all of the people of Grebo Land, River Gee County, here in Monrovia, back home in River Gee, and including slum communities, as well as the whole of the South-East Liberia, and mother Liberia as a whole – we do hereby proclaim the Weah for President Campaign deemed officially politically launched – and the momentum begins forthwith. In the words of Barrack Obama, during his second bid for the White House, he told his supporters that it will not be over until it is over. Mr. President, the battle has begun, and it shall not be over until it is over on October 10”, the resolution concluded.
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