Flashback: Signing ceremony of the Rainbow Alliance agreement of the registered political parties that make up the alliance
The opposition Rainbow Alliance comprising a little over ten political parties have joined the choruses of the opposition bloc to critique President George Weah’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The Rainbow Alliance comprises grand old True Whig Party (TWP) of the First Republic, Liberia Restoration Party (LRD), Change Democratic Action (CDA), Democratic Justice Party (DJP), and Victory for Change Party (VCP). Others include Grassroots Democratic Party of Liberia (GDPL), Redemption Democratic Congress (RDC), Peoples Unification Party (PUP), Vision for Liberia Transformation Party (VOLT), and New Liberia Party (NLP).
The Rainbow Alliance their coming together to collaborate is all geared towards efforts to democratically replace the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), in the upcoming 2023 presidential election.
The political parties said they are prepared to engage the political landscape of Liberia in a constructive manner and subsequently deliver the country from the hands of self-seeking leaders.
According to the Rainbow Alliance officers, there are too many political parties in Liberia that sometimes confuse the people of Liberia which direction to go that is why they came together under one umbrella called Rainbow Alliance.
Days following President delivery of his SONA to the 54th Legislature, the Rainbow Alliance has responded to the President statement, calling it a low energy SONA
“WEAH’S LOW ENERGY SONA: A JOKER’S GALLERY
The high expectation with which Liberians greeted President Weah’s Fifth Annual Message was a big disappointment due to the low energy of the president’s performance and the manner in which he turned the respectability of the Joint Session of the National Legislature into a Joker’s Gallery. The views of millions of Liberians watching the President’s poor delivery were summarized by one of his young supporters who lamented, “our prezo sound like joker; he fooling his pekin them again…”
Executives and partisans of the Rainbow Alliance, like many Liberians at home and abroad, including the President’s speech writers, found it difficult and embarrassing to listen to our head of state as he struggled through his annual recitation with a lack of conviction, the lack of vision and the lack of understanding of his role as head of state.
PRO-POOR ELITISM
Most of the President’s Annual Message dealt with issues surrounding the nation’s broken economy, without admitting the government’s failure in delivering any substantial progress on its Pro-Poor agenda.
It is clear that the government’s economic policy is designed with cute schemes to benefit the president’s political and social inner circle. The economy is cleverly manipulated to empower the CDC upper class to give them cash advantage in the up-coming presidential and legislative elections, while most Liberians struggle on a daily basis to make ends meet. The Pro-Poor agenda is basically a buzz phrase to deceive the struggling masses while at the same time, a small circle of pro-poor elites enjoy the lion share of the state resources.
In the president’s own words, more than 70 percent of the national budget goes towards the payment of salaries and the servicing of domestic debts. It is no secret that the government has over-loaded the civil service with up to 77,000 CDCians, many of whom are incompetent, but receive millions of dollars in regular salaries from the national budget. Domestic debt payments are made to businesses owned by CDCians, including government officials who create shadowy companies thereby creating unfair competition against hard working Liberians in the private sector.
In his Annual Message, the President has mandated his Minister of Finance to raise the salary of 15,000 civil servants to a minimum wage at an additional cost of US$6 million. What the President did not tell the Liberian people is that the budget for his office alone is more than US$20 million every year, more than three times the amount he intends to add to the salaries of 15,000 Liberians. This is the essence of pro-poor elitism.
FIVE YEARS OF INCOMPETENCE
It is a painful truth that five years of the Weah presidency have been characterized by zero tolerance for educational advancement, frequent violation of the Liberian constitution, breakdown of law and order, open corruption and official playfulness, just to name a few areas in which the government’s Pro-Poor agenda has failed.
The poverty rate is higher in Liberia today, and there are more poor people going hungry every day, than when the CDC came to power five years ago; more parents are unable to send their children to school than five years ago; more children have become street sellers; more responsible and professional people have become beggars, and our country has generally lost its way as if it is operating on remote control. The lack of competent leadership is the biggest challenge that Liberia is facing today.
The president boasted about his road and highway development agenda without explaining to the Liberian people the corruption surrounding misapplication of millions of US dollars of the Road Fund. Most of the road construction he boasted about in his Annual Message are in distant areas of the country far away from Monrovia, where progress is very difficult to verify. Most of the roads constructed in urban areas have collapsed or are in disrepair due to over-sight incompetence, budgetary fiasco and inferior construction methods.
The Monrovia – Roberts International Airport road construction debacle is sore eye for all Liberians and an embarrassment to visitors and foreigners entering our country. Just like how Liberia ran on one bridge a few years ago, Liberia is now running on one airport. It is a risk to every traveler in this country and those from foreign countries for our nation to rely on a single airport. In the event of an emergency, an aircraft has to fly almost an hour to either Sierra Leone of Guinea to land. On the other hand, it takes merely 12 minutes for the same aircraft to fly to the Spriggs Payne Airport for emergency relief, and the possibility of saving lives.
A major error of judgement made by the president was to spend millions of dollars of tax payers’ money to construct a presidential playground near the Spriggs Payne airport without any accountability, instead of upgrading that airport as an option for the convenience of travelers and the safety of airlines.
The mathematics is simple: by upgrading the Spriggs Payne Airport, the government does not only increase revenue intake, but also seeks the welfare of Liberians and foreigners in the event of an emergency. On the other hand, the construction of a playground for the president and his friends is a drain on the economy due to the high cost of electricity, maintenance and security.
Sadly, the president’s focus on key deliverables for the Liberian people, including food security, efficient and affordable health care delivery systems, education, infrastructure, the fight against corruption, the enforcement of law and order, are very scanty or non-existent.
FORTY-EIGHT DAY TRAVEL JUNKET
In spite of the wide-spread public criticism over President Weah’s prolonged absence from the country for more than 48 days toward the end of 2022, he appeared to be insensitive to the criticisms. He justified the importance of his travel junket by mocking the Liberian people. He took great delight in naming many of the useless visits, thereby raising the tempo of the Jokers Gallery.
The President reported that the highlight of his trip was the invitation that he received from the American President, Joe Biden, to participate in the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit and his visit to the White House. The President expressed delight in receiving praises from the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, for what he described as his great leadership and strengthening of US-Liberia relations.
Unfortunately, the President fails to understand that a group invitation to participate in a group summit with many African leaders is quite different from an official invitation for a state visit to Washington, which he has not received in five years of his presidency. The President also failed to address the sanctions that the US Government imposed on key members of his inner circle and the potential for other officials of his government to be caught in the sanctions dragnet in the future.
It is proper for President Weah, much like many of his predecessors, to applaud the Special Relationship that Liberia has enjoyed with the United States since the founding of our nation over 200 years ago. Every Liberian, including members of the Rainbow Alliance appreciate the decades of assistance that the government and people of the United States have given to Liberia and continue to give.
This Special Relationship imposes a special obligation on all Liberian leaders to support the national interests of the United States at the bilateral and multilateral level, especially on key issues to be voted upon at the United Nations. In this respect, President Weah is not doing the United States any special favors, but rather, is following a time honored tradition steeped in history and diplomacy between the Liberia and the United States of America.
2023 ELECTIONS
While many other opposition leaders and political pundits have had their say on the President’s Fifth Annual Message, the Rainbow Alliance feels obliged to not only critique the shortcomings of the President’s leadership and the failures of his government, but to offer some insights into possible concerns for the upcoming elections and the future governance and development of Liberia.
Indeed, there is genuine concern that the government will do all within its power to win the 2023 elections at all cost. The signs are on the wall with early illegal campaigning by the CDC with hundreds of posters and billboards adorning the streets of Monrovia and other communities across the country with Weah 2023 campaign messages. The government’s appetite to use public money and public facilities as if they were personal property, and to prevent opposition political parties from having access to these facilities are warning signals that the playing field will not be level for all participants in the 2023 elections.
The Rainbow alliance hereby calls on the National Elections Commission and the international community to take cognizance of the obvious violation of the elections laws by the CDC and take corrective actions to ensure that the upcoming elections will be free, transparent and free of possible violence.
The President must realize that the first fault of politics is over-confidence. During his State of the Nation address, he boasted that he will leave office in 2029, an indication that he has already won the 2023 elections. The President and his CDCians must be careful not to underestimate the intelligence and determination of the Liberian people. In line with an old adage, the CDC have been able to fool some of the people some of the time; but they will not be able to fool all of the people all of the time.
LIBERIA NEEDS LEADERS, NOT POLITICAL WARLORDS
As we prepare for the 2023 elections, it is clear that the fate of the Liberian nation lies in the hands of opposition politicians. The Liberian people have pre-determined THE DREAM TEAM that they wish to support in order to remove the incompetent and corrupt CDC government. If the opposition community does not listen to the voice of the Liberian people, the political careers of many politicians will be short-lived.
Moreover, if we miss the opportunity to bring in a new leadership in the 2023 elections, Liberia will be lost for many decades, and opposition politicians will have themselves to blame for the irreversible decline of our beautiful nation.
It is time to put aside all personal egos and animosities. It requires collective effort to unseat incumbent regimes. There is ample proof all across Africa that a united opposition can win, and has won elections against incumbent governments in spite of having unlimited state resources at their disposal.
What Liberia does not need in the opposition community, are not Political Warlords. What we do need are true leaders who are self-less; leaders who put the country ahead of their personal ambitions; leaders who are prepared to compromise in the interest of the suffering masses; leaders who believe in making peace; leaders who believe in fostering reconciliation; and leaders who want to be servants of the people, and not to be their rulers.
THE FUTURE LIBERIA DESERVES
Over The past 40 years Liberia has endured dramatic changes as a result of a bloody military coup d’état, rebellions, civil unrest, a brutal civil war, epidemics and pandemics, a breakdown of our system of governance, and a loss of national identity. Like the Children of Israel, Liberians have been in the proverbial desert for 40 years. It is time for Liberia to enter the Promise Land to reclaim its lost identity, to build a Golden Age of peace, prosperity, progress and happiness for all. Let us all join hands to build the future that Liberia deserves.
May the God Almighty prosper the works of our hands, and safe our wonderfully beautiful nation.
I THANK YOU”
