One of Liberia’s newest presidential aspirants, Clarence K. Moniba, political leader of the Liberian National Union (LINU), is calling on President George Manneh to recuse himself from the October 2023 presidential and general elections to save the country from further damage, especially given what Moniba termed as the Weah administration for which millions of Liberians are suffering.
“On behalf of the millions of Liberians who recognize the failures of this administration, for the millions of Liberians who feel the pain and suffering from this administration, for the millions of Liberians who are of our generation, who still hope for a brighter future, I am calling on the current President of Liberia, George Weah, to not contest this year’s Presidency. Resign from this electoral process before any more damage is done to our country and our citizens. Announce to the world that you will not contest the elections in October, 2023, and put the world on notice that Liberia will be back in business beginning 2024. Show us, Mr. President, that you love us, that you love our country, by walking away from a job that you cannot handle. The honest truth is that in our nation – millions of our people are jobless and frustrated. And the few with jobs, are overworked, and underpaid,” stated Dr. Clarence Monibah.
“If you were to ask the average Liberian if their life is better today than it was five years ago, most will say “NO”. The truth is, under the George Weah government, we are not on the right path. Five years ago, President Weah said that Liberians were not going to be spectators in our own economy. He was right. Today, Liberians cannot even afford to be in the stadium to be spectators. We are outside of the stadium searching for jobs, searching for food, searching for hope and searching for leadership. When he took office, President Weah promised to fight corruption, he failed; he claimed to be Pro Poor, but the poor are now worse off than they were six years ago. So yes, we are heading down the wrong path. We must ensure that my (our) generation lights the fire today, so that Liberia’s future will burn bright tomorrow. We must ensure that the resources of this country are equally for all five million Liberians, and not just government officials and their families. Crime is at an all-time high and if you live outside of Monrovia, there are few paved roads for you to travel in order to work or sell your goods. No matter where you live, our schools are substandard, and if you have a hospital or clinic near you, it is ill equipped, understaffed and does not have electricity. Whether you voted for the current administration or not, you hoped and you prayed that things would get better for you and your family. You never thought that things could get worse – that a poor country, such as Liberia, could get even poorer,” Monibah further lamented as he continued to explain why he sincerely believes that President Weah could save himself and Liberia by not participating in the pending presidential election.
“Yes, like most of you, I loved him as a football player…but unfortunately, not as Liberia’s President. As I said before, one day, Liberia will be a great country. Therefore, we cannot afford another 6 years of leadership where four auditors are killed within a week, with no investigations and no statement by the President. An EPS officer dies while on presidential duty, with no investigation and no statement by the President. Twenty five million dollars of taxpayer money was grossly misapplied, no investigations, and no statement by the president. Government officials are sanctioned for corruption by a foreign government, yet still, no investigations, and no statement by the President. We cannot afford another six years of bad roads that cut off the southeastern region, the very place that the President is from. We do not want another 6 years of our young people being forced into drugs, with the only other option being for them to sell orange minutes and lone star minutes. We cannot afford another 6 years of not paying our civil servants for months, while creating no new jobs and not growing our own food. In short, we cannot afford another 6 years of a Weah presidency not because he is a bad man, but because he is unprepared and bad for the job of president. This is evident whenever we hear the president address national issues, which is at most, once or twice a year. In January’s state of the nation address, I was frustrated to hear that the majority of the projects outlined by the President, even though he has been in office for over five years, were not new initiatives…but projects that were envisioned and funded by the previous administration, many of which, I am proud to say, I helped negotiate, lead,(led) and support, while serving this country in various capacities to include – Minister of State w/o Portfolio; Chairman of the Liberia Electricity Corporation; as well as the Head of the President’s Delivery Unit which oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure development throughout Liberia.
“The projects mentioned that this President is still trying to take credit for, include the CLSG line, which brings electricity from Cote D’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Guinea, to Liberia. It was a project negotiated by the previous administration as far back as 2014, with construction beginning in 2017. The fact is, every single energy supply and most of the home connections that are being used by the Liberian people today, were not brought about by this administration, but the previous one. I know this because I was one of the individuals in charge of ensuring it happened. The Lofa Road, which started in 2017, for which I was honored enough to have helped negotiate, should have been completed by 2020, but is still only half way finished. The ELWA Junction to Coca – Cola Factory Road, which I collaborated with others to secure funding for, should have been completed by 2019 – still unfinished. The Road Fund that is now bankrupt, is an initiative put in place by the previous administration; something for which I participated in the negotiations with the US Government.
“The Ganta to Yekepa, and the Southeastern Road of Fishtown to Harper, are all projects that under the leadership of the former president, we initiated, fully negotiated and began implementation. To date, this administration’s biggest infrastructure project is the current construction of the RIA road, which is not only a death trap at night, but is extremely over budgeted for, poorly planned, and is being poorly implemented.
“These issues are not personal, Mr. President, they are national. This is not about Weah, it is about Liberia. So you cannot run away from your responsibility to the country. And our generation will not listen to people who tell us to wait for the future of tomorrow, while our future is being stolen from us today. We must fight for Liberia now, because Liberia is all we have. This election, we need more than popularity and campaign materials paid for by government resources – we need competence, energy, the qualifications, vision and the ability to deliver basic social services for the Liberian people. You have made history, Mr. President, of being the first world best in football to lead a nation, now make history once more, by being the first President in Liberia to walk away when they realized that they could live up to the expectations of their people,” Dr. Moniba stated emphatically.
Clarence Moniba is the son of Liberia’s former Vice President Harry F. Moniba. Born March 15, 1979, Clarence is a Liberian politician, author and former actor. He served as the youngest person in the country’s history to be named Minister of State without Portfolio, as well as the Chairman of the Board of the Liberia Electricity Corporation. He was a Principal Advisor and Project Manager to the President of Liberia and a leading figure on infrastructure development in Liberia from 2014 to 2018.
Dr. Moniba at various times also headed the Diaspora Engagement Unit, the Philanthropy Secretariat and the President’s Delivery Unit which oversaw implementation of priority projects. Moniba in previous roles has worked with the African Development Bank’s High Level Panel on Post Conflict & Fragile States, as well as the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda. He was awarded the national medal Knight Commander of the Most Venerable Order of Pioneers, which then President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stated was for his outstanding and distinguished service in government.
Comments are closed.