IPNEWS: As far as we do know, the ultimate objective of the traditional nationwide tour of the Liberian presidency is to afford a sitting president of the Republic, like in the case of President George Weah, the opportunity to meet face to face with citizens in every county across the country, to hear their appraisals of the performance of the government on where it is doing well and where it is doing poorly, and take home recommendations for improvement of the lives of the Liberian people.

For Liberia, improvements are needed in all spheres of the national fabric, including the economy, security, health, education, the environment, agriculture, and so on.

Moreover, the nationwide tour is a rare opportunity that the citizens to look into the face of the President and tell him or her what their challenges and needs are. It is not intended for bloated and boring political speeches, slogans, and partisanship____.

Besides, the nationwide tour is not the ‘State of the Nation Address’ that a sitting president uses to describe the health of the state or outline his or her government’s achievements within a specific period, nor is it a political campaign during which people seeking election or reelection make mouthwatering promises that they usually never fulfilled.

But on contrast, what was supposed to be a presidential tour of Montserrado County by President George Weah last week took the shape of political campaigns as men and women wearing red berets and other paraphernalia of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) lined up behind the President and swarmed communities and districts he visited to climax the nationwide tour he started in 2021.

The CDCians as partisans of the ruling establishment are called, carried placards and banners with inscriptions such as: ‘District ‘6’ for the Reelection of President Weah’, and ‘First Round Victory 2023’.

They also chanted pro-President Weah and CDC battle cries as if the President’s tour of Montserrado County were a political campaign. In fact, Mr. President, you allowed your followers to turn the whole tour of Montserrado into campaign rallies across the county. The tours are serious business and should not be turned into a political campaign as not every Liberian is your supporter, but every Liberian resides in one of the 15 counties and the districts in those counties.

For former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf whom we preferred to use as a case study because she is the immediate past President of Liberia, she did not use her nationwide tours to bore the citizenry with political speeches, instead, she allowed them to do most of the talking, ask questions and make recommendations they felt were pivotal to the socio and economic development of the country.

Unlike President Weah and his Coalition for Democratic Change, at no time did Madam Sirleaf allow or encourage partisans and supporters of the then ruling Unity Party to wear green, white, and brown berets during any of her nationwide tours. This is why the red bereted CDCians’ disposition during President Weah’s Montserrado tour raised eyebrows and made observers conclude that what was supposed to be a Montserrado or nationwide tour did turn into a political campaign.