HE LEFT THE country since November 1, 2022, and is expected to stay out for 48 days, making his trip probably the longest by a sitting President in the recent history of Liberia.
THE LOCAL MEDIA has reported that the President George Manneh Weah’s decision to be out of Liberia for 48 days, which includes a nine-day stay in Qatar to watch the FIFA 2022 World Cup, could cost the country more than US$96k – more than what his government appropriated to some leading government hospitals.
WITH SUCH A staggering sum of money spent only on the President’s current trip abroad, the questions some concerned Liberians have begun to ask is, what does the country stand to benefit at the end of his 48-day stay outside the country?
AS A MATTER of reflection, we vividly recall his party Chairman, Mulbah Morlu, once said in a leaked audio recording that whenever the President travels abroad and solicits money in the name of the country, he comes back home and diverts the money into his personal use.
ALREADY, HIS UNPRECEDENTED prolonged stay out of the country, official or unofficial, has given rise to speculations suggesting that it is likely President Weah is giving up on the presidency for several reasons including, he and his ruling CDC’s diminishing popularity proven by their poor performance in the December 2020 mid-term election and recent by-elections.
OTHER REASONS PEOPLE have cited include increasing economic hardship, massive unemployment, rampant corruption, threats and fear of US sanctions, and worst of all, the high cost of living across the country.
THERE ARE OTHER Liberians, who think that the President is likely giving up on the presidency because he has now realized that the job is too demanding and is restricting his private life knowing himself as a man, who loves good time and wants to be a free man.
YET THERE ARE others, who also believe that President Weah is giving up on the presidency because he has realized that to be the President for a complain-oriented society or people such as Liberians, is not an easy task and that the wisest think to do is to quit to have a peace of mind.
WHETHER THESE SPECULATIONS are genuine or not, President Weah’s lifestyle and unprecedented prolonged stay out of the Country as Head of State for a struggling economy such as ours, give rise to them.
CURRENTLY IN QATAR where he is watching his son, Timothy (Tim) Weah, plays for the United States in the ongoing FIFA World Cup.
HIS CRITICS THINK there are more important national issues that he needs to spend time on at home than travelling to Qatar to watch his son play football since he could watch him play or watch the World Cup from his living room here in Monrovia.
