JNB Commits to Forming a Government of Inclusion, Says ‘Talents to Rebuild Liberia Cannot be Found in One Party’

MONROVIA – Ahead of a crucial presidential runoff election between him and his arch-rival incumbent President George Manneh Weah, former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has pledged his commitment to form a government of inclusion if elected president.

The former Vice President and standard bearer of the opposition Unity Party and President Weah went neck and neck in the October 10 presidential election, with each candidate accumulating 43 percent of the total votes cast, squaring up for a runoff, a rematch of the 2017 presidential polls where Weah triumphed.

In a landmark address after the polls at the Unity party’s headquarters, Ambassador Boakai said the high turnout of voters during the polls and the huge support he received sent out a clear and resounding message that the Liberian people are fed up with the Weah administration and wanted a new government that will address their plights.

Boakai expressed his deep gratitude to the voters for their courage and unwavering decision to cast their ballots in favor of him and his running mate, Jeremiah Koung. He also pledged to establish a government that genuinely mirrors the political, ethnic, regional, religious, and gender diversity of the nation.

Below is the full text of the speech by Presidential candidate Boakai

Fellow Citizens:

On Tuesday, October 10, 2023, the Liberian people stood in long lines across our beloved country to exercise one of the most sacred rights the Liberian Constitution offers to all Liberian citizens – the right to vote and to elect or eject their leaders.

No doubt, the majority of the Liberian people who stood in those lines on last Tuesday went to exercise their rights to eject President Weah from the presidency of Liberia for his dismal performance over the past six years during which his CDC party has been placed over the country. Liberia has since witnessed gross incompetence, corruption, and brazen looting of state resources, with no accountability. The lack of leadership and deterioration have been the order of the day.

As is now evident from the results of the presidential election announced by the electoral management body, the National Elections Commission (NEC), the Liberian people, in their righteous rage, have served President Weah a clear warning that his days in the presidency are numbered and soon, and very soon, the final verdict will be delivered to make President Weah a one-term president.

Through their votes, the Liberian people have presented to President Weah and his CDC a reality that they feared the most throughout these elections – the possibility of a second-round face-off against me and our broad- based Team.

I, therefore, want to take this time to express my profound thanks and appreciation to the Parties of the UP Alliance and all our partisans and sympathizers, dispersed throughout the length and breadth of this country, who exercised their franchise by casting their votes for the Rescue Ticket. With your votes and support, we have made and will continue to make history.

We have proven, in a resounding tone, that a people determined to achieve a noble goal can prevail. Despite using millions upon millions of dollars obtained from questionable sources and intimidating our supporters President Weah and his CDC were unable to break the ironclad resolve of our people. Despite the massive irregularities, we fought a good fight and defeated them.

On the journey to October 10, 2023, you, our people, defied rain and thunder; you defied the scorching sun and the suffocating heat; you defied sleep and fatigue, you walked long distances and crossed many rivers and creeks just to share the good news of the Rescue Mission. You did so not so much because you love Joseph Nyuma Boakai or Jeremiah Kpan Koung. You did so because you love and deeply care for Liberia.

My fellow Liberians, our country needs to be rescued and then we can embark on getting it fixed. Our country needs to be swept. Our country needs to be redeemed. Our country needs to be healed and reunited. Indeed, our country needs to be rescued. To achieve these lofty goals, as I have always urged, we need all hands on deck.

One thing I know very well is that all the talents and ideas we need to rebuild our country cannot be found in a single party, tribe, county, region, or religion. That’s why I am committed to forming a government of inclusion when God willing, we ultimately achieve our grand goal of democratically evicting President Weah from the Executive Mansion in a couple of days and weeks.

We shall form a government that truly reflects the political, ethnic, regional, and religious, as well as gender diversity of our country. We shall form a government in which the true value of a Liberian is not determined by loyalty to the party but by loyalty to the country plus the person’s ability and willingness to contribute his or her quota to the country’s progress. We are therefore reaching out to our brothers and sisters in the opposition and Liberians, in general, to join us in this noble mission of making our country breathe freely again.

It is against this backdrop that I today issue this clarion call to you, to summon the patriotic courage to rise up once more, trek distances, defy any shade of unpleasant weather, and endure the long queues in your respective polling places so as to drop your verdict in the ballot box for the unshackling of our dear Mama Liberia.

Together, we can, and we will effectively tackle the KUSH epidemic in our country, invest in health care, education, and agriculture and spur foreign investment, thereby uplifting our country and saving the future of our young people who have become walking dead-bodies due to the action and inaction of a government that just does not care.

And so let us revolt against this sad state of our nation and our existence as a people. I urge all of us to wield our sacred votes to take the destiny of this nation into our own hands. Let us deliver that deadly blow to mediocrity, corruption, ethnic strife, and this absurd approach to governance. Let us deliver Liberia from the crushing jaws of mismanagement and ineptitude. The opportune hour is before us and is ripe.

Together, we can once more make the Liberian flag to radiantly flutter high, bringing pride and dignity to all.