By Smart News Liberia
MONROVIA – Former President George Manneh Weah has formally declared his intention to return to the Liberian presidency in 2029, setting the stage for what could become one of the country’s most consequential political contests since the transition of power in 2024.
Speaking Thursday, July 30, 2026, at the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) USA Chapter Convention in the United States, Weah ended months of speculation over his political future, telling supporters that he would seek the presidency again and calling on the ruling Unity Party (UP) to prepare for a political showdown.
“Today, I declare that I will be a candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Liberia in 2029,” Weah said, presenting the decision as both a personal commitment and a response to what he described as the growing risks facing Liberia.
The declaration immediately injects new energy into Liberia’s emerging 2029 political landscape, positioning Weah once again at the center of the CDC’s opposition strategy and placing the Boakai administration on an increasingly competitive political battlefield.
Weah framed his return not simply as an attempt to regain the presidency but as a continuation of a political movement he said was built by ordinary Liberians.
“I speak these words as your political leader. I speak them as your brother, as your servant, and as a man whose heart has never once left this movement,” he told CDC supporters.
He argued that the movement had survived political setbacks and remained sufficiently organized and energized to challenge the ruling establishment.
“The CDC is alive. The CDC is united. The CDC is organized. The CDC is energized. The CDC is strong. And the CDC is coming back to power,” Weah declared.
His strongest challenge was directed at those who might doubt his determination to return to national politics.
“To all who doubt our resolve, to all who believe they can intimidate us, or dissuade us from this mission, save your energy. Save it. Use it instead to prepare to meet us on the political battlefield,” Weah said.
He added that the ultimate measure of political power would remain the will of Liberian voters.
The former president also presented his candidacy as an effort to protect democratic institutions and reverse what he described as a dangerous direction for the country.
“I refuse to stand on the sidelines while our country is dismantled before our eyes,” Weah said.
He promised that, if given another opportunity to lead, he would work to “protect our democracy,” “restore our institutions” and rebuild Liberia “bigger, stronger, and more united than ever before.”
The declaration comes as the political temperature in Liberia continues to rise, with the Boakai administration facing mounting criticism over governance, economic conditions, accountability and its handling of several high-profile national controversies.
Weah used his address to urge CDC partisans and opposition supporters to move beyond internal divisions and begin preparing for the 2029 contest.
“This is not the time for division. This is not the time for complacency. This is the time for mobilization. This is the time to march forward,” he said.
But the former president’s message was met with an immediate and aggressive response from the Boakai administration.
Deputy Information Minister Daniel Sando sharply rejected Weah’s assessment of Liberia, particularly claims that the country has been overtaken by drug cartels and that businesses have collapsed, contributing to worsening poverty.
Speaking to journalists at the Ministry of Information following Weah’s address, Sando dismissed the former president’s political comeback declaration as insignificant and questioned Weah’s credibility as a political leader.
“That declaration is inconsequential,” Sando said when responding to Weah’s announcement of his 2029 candidacy.
Sando further accused the former president of having presided over a criminal network that the current administration is now dismantling, while insisting that Liberia’s business environment is improving.
He also described Weah as “a failed man” and argued that the former president should not be taken seriously as a politician.
Sando extended his criticism to the CDC, describing the opposition party as unserious and dismissing its claim of an impending return to power as “an illusion and a fantasy.”
The exchange exposes the political fault line likely to define the coming electoral cycle, with Weah attempting to portray the CDC as a resilient mass movement preparing for a political comeback, while the Boakai administration seeks to portray the former president and his party as a failed political project whose return is neither credible nor desirable.
For Weah, however, the 2029 campaign appears to have begun well before the official electoral contest.
His message to the CDC convention was unmistakably one of mobilization. He called on supporters to take the political message into every county, district, town and village, signaling an effort to rebuild the organizational machinery that propelled the CDC to the presidency in 2017.
“We are gathered not only to celebrate the past but to prepare for the future,” Weah said, describing the next phase as one of “renewal,” “reorganization” and ultimately “victory.”
The former president’s announcement also places new pressure on the Unity Party and President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to defend their administration’s record while maintaining the coalition that brought them to power in 2023.
The political stakes are therefore no longer merely about whether Weah will return to the ballot. They are increasingly about whether Liberia’s electorate will view his administration’s record as a reason for rejection or a platform for political redemption.
Weah left the CDC convention with a clear message. He intends to fight for another term as president.
His challenge to the ruling establishment could not have been more direct. He told them to prepare for the political battlefield of 2029.
With Weah now openly declaring his candidacy, Liberia’s next presidential election has effectively entered a new political phase, one in which the battle between the CDC and the Unity Party is likely to dominate the national conversation long before voters cast their ballots.
