MONROVIA – Barely a week after outgoing Liberian President George Weah told the world that he was quitting politics, one of his confidants, and former campaign manager, Lenn Eugene Nagbe, has hinted otherwise.
On last Sunday, at his Forkay Kloh Jlaleh Family Fellowship church, President Weah announced that he will not contest the presidency in 2029, indicating that he would have been at his peak of retirement when elections are held six years from now.
Weah, who is 57 and will be 63 six years from now, stated that in 2029 when the country’s next presidential election is held, he will be two years shy of his retirement, noting that he would neither want to serve for just two years before he retires nor would he want to keep being in politics until he’s very old at age 75 or 90.
In the wake of his previous call to members and supporters of his party, the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), to recalibrate and contest the country’s presidency in the 2029 elections, Weah’s announcement about his retirement from politics came as a shock to many, especially stalwarts of his party who leech on his popularity for political relevance.
In his concession speech broadcast on state radio, when he was defeated by former VP Joe Boakai in last year’s runoff election, Weah told partisans of the CDC that the party is a young movement, whose time for national leadership would come again, urging that they embark upon what he called a reflection of the journey and plan of the CDC for its return to political leadership in 2029.
But in an apparent reply to CDC officials, who are wooing the retired footballer to give the presidency another shot, Weah stated: “So, you’re not going to drag me into politics until I reach 90 years or 75 years old.”
“I did not come to politics to hijack politics,” said Weah, who averred that his entry into politics was to play his part, inferring that it doesn’t matter whether he served for one term or not, he played his part well.
He disclosed that rather than coming to politics to overstay like others in their 80s who are still running behind politics, he sought the presidency to prove a point.
“And the only thing I wanted to prove is that people said that we are insignificant people, and I wanted to prove them wrong to say no, we are not insignificant,” he emphasized.
Howbeit, Lenn Eugene Nagbe has hinted that the outgoing president’s assertions of quitting politics may be a hoax.
Via his verified Facebook handle, Nagbe wrote yesterday dismissing Weah’s announcement of quitting politics and warned that no one should believe that the retired football star has bowed out of politics.
Nagbe, who on yesterday resigned from his tenured post of Maritime Commissioner, his second in the Weah administration, having previously served as Minister of Information, stated that he did so even though he still had two years to complete his tenure, because he’s focused on what he termed the journey now and into 2029 to recalibrate and reinvigorate the CDC under the leadership of the party’s Standard Bearer and Political Leader, President Weah.
He suggested that with Weah and others at the helm of the CDC, Liberia will have a strong, responsible, and vibrant opposition bloc, which he believes is a quintessential fulcrum of democracy.
“Anyone believing Weah is out of politics is living in Utopia,” Nagbe wrote.
