MONROVIA – When President George Manneh Weah last year embarked on his countrywide tours, his chief deputy, Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, was not with him in several of the counties, particularly those in the distant Southeast and West. During those tours, which many described as incredibly successful, the President made an avalanche of promises to provide social infrastructure projects to the rural people and their communities. Nearly a year and half since the President made those trips, before ending it all in Montserrado County this year, VP Howard-Taylor sees it appropriate to pay a visit to assess progress on the implementation of the promised projects and other developments. Beginning with Grand Gedeh, the Liberian Second in Command has landed in the countryside, not only checking on government development projects and holding chitchats the rural masses of the people but also passing on motivating messages to her partisans ahead of the crucial 2023 presidential and legislative elections. The Analyst reports.
Few weeks after President George Manneh Weah concluded his national county tours in Montserrado County, Vice President Madam Jewel Howard-Taylor yesterday, Tuesday, September 20, 2022 began hers starting from Grand Gedeh County.
According to our correspondent, she landed in Zewdru and immediately started getting things running on the ground inspecting projects and thanking the locals for the massive votes the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) received from the county during the 2017 presidential and representative elections.
It is also reported that has been making passionate solicitation for support ahead of the 2023 presidential elections just as she thanked the citizens and residents
The Vice President who is being accompanied on the trip by some top officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and her office braved the deplorable road conditions between Ganta to Zwedru to undertake the journey that is also expected to take her to other counties in the Southeastern part of the country.
The Liberian Vice President reportedly received by a mammoth crowd on the outskirts of Zwedru, welcoming her with celebration–dancing and singing—with a large assembly of women groups , partisans of the Coalition for Democratic Change(CDC), youth groups, market women, students amongst others.
VP Taylor immediately proceeded to the Church of Pentecost where an intercessory welcome program organized by the local authority and the Grand Gedeh County branch of the Christian Council, offering prayers and invoking blessings upon her. They presented a holy bible and a nice traditional woven attire as sign of their appreciation for her visit.
Protocol officers handling the program had requested good melodious songs to be rendered, something that made the VP to get on the dancing floor herself.
In her remarks, Vice President Taylor thanked the Christian community for the prayers during the course of her journey as well as the local county authority for the amazing and overwhelming ovation and welcome accorded to her and entourage. She said with what she saw thus far, she was glad to be at home.
She said two things informed her to undertake her tour starting with Grand Gedeh, one being because of the unprecedented and unexpected welcome accorded her and President George Manneh Weah when both of them were canvassing for votes at the time in 2017 and other people were advising her not to travel to county for reasons best known to themselves.
He further recalled: “The first reason is when President George Manneh Weah and myself were going around campaigning in 2017, some people said we should not come here because the people will not welcome me. But I tell you, when we got here the welcome was something else. It took so much time for us to reach the program venue after we arrived in Zwedru. The people were all over in their multitude and also voted for us massively for the victory in 2017.
“The second reason is I wanted to know and experience the conditions of the road from Ganta to Zwedru; to know what our people go through and I have seen it. It is deplorable. But development is a process and I can assure you in a few years to come under the administration of President George Manneh Weah, you will witness the time you will ride on paved roads to county as it is part of the project of the government to connect all towns and cities to the main roads in the country.”
The Vice President Taylor also used the occasion to call on the members of the county’s Legislative Caucus to work with their counterparts from Nimba County so as to form a synergy that will see them advocating for more money to be voted in the budget towards the Ganta-Zwedru Highway.
She thanked the citizens for keeping the peace over the years and solicited their support towards making the Weah administration complete all its projects that will put the country on a good development footing never witnessed in the history of the country.
In conclusion she gave out a thousand United States Dollars each to the Choir of the host church, the mass choir and the Christian council chapter.
Earlier, Superintendent Kai Farley had officially welcome Madam Taylor to the county and wished her delegation happy stay in the county.
Also, Representative Erol Madison Gwion of District 1, Grand Gedeh County and Secretary General of the County Legislative Caucus also extended thanks to the Vice President for being thoughtful in beginning her tour of the country from Grand Gedeh County.
He expressed delight for the decision she took to drive through the deplorable road leading to the county as well as appreciating her suggestion for the county caucus to work with their counterparts from Nimba County with the hope of using their legislative functions to collectively address the bad road conditions existing in the two counties.
Madam Taylor and her entourage then held another meeting with the traditional council immediately after the welcome program where the chiefs and elders of the county thanked her for the visit and promised her that “your visit will not be in vain”.
At the Zwedru Multilateral High School which was the third engagement of the day and involved a meeting with students from the various high schools in Zwedru, the Vice President launched one of her girls related project, the “Girls Sanitary Pad Bank Project”, to assist female students who have reached menstruation age to access free sanitary pads as a way to mitigate the challenges they go through when they experience their periods while serious academic activities are ongoing during school days.
She also announced the extension of scholarship programs for female students in the county to encourage enrolment of girls as well as the commencement of technical and vocational programs in the various Multilateral High Schools in the country to the delight of the students who were present at the program.
Madam Howard Taylor is expected to hold several other meetings with various groups before departing for other counties including Nimba County and the duration of her tour will be from September 19- 24, 2022.
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