Former Liberia President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
LIBERIA – Ahead of the 2023 presidential elections, former Vice President, Joseph N. Boakai has reinforced his stance on his earlier comment that former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf squandered a lot of opportunities during the Unity Party’s (UP) twelve years of leadership.
Boakai argued that former President Sirleaf could have used the enormous support given her government as the first female President in Africa to deliver effectively in key sectors of Liberia.
The opportunities, Boikai believes, were not used adequately and to the expectation of the Liberian people.
“I am not saying we didn’t do anything, but we could have done much-much more and that is why I said we squandered opportunities. We could have done more on roads, we could have done more to dislodge the young people that followed Weah,” the former Vice President of Liberia noted.
Speaking recently on a local talk show in Monrovia, Boakai claimed the UP government under the watchful eyes of former President Sirleaf could have provided training opportunities to the young people of Liberia on grounds that those young people at the time were looking for opportunities to be trained.
The former Liberians Vice President maintained that Ex-president Sirleaf could have used the numerous support from the United States of America and other international partners to deliver electricity.
Boakai, who is currently the political leader of the Unity Party, asserted that the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Government should have made a possible outcome from the visit of U.S. Diplomat, Nancy Pelosi, who came to Liberia and promised to have lighted Liberia.
However, political pundits, including the Special Aid to President George M. Weah, Sekou Kalasco Damaro sees the statement from the former Vice President as a total deception and an attempt to seek sympathy from the Liberia populace.
He added: “With over 66 billion in Foreign Direct Investment and other donors’ contributions to Liberia, the Unity Party failed to translate those into opportunities for Liberia and its people, by deliberately ignoring the plights of the young people”.
“This is guilt by admittance, the inability of Standard Bearer Joseph N. Boakai and the Unity Party to provide those opportunities in 12 years will also be accounted for in 2023, while President Weah’s massive transformation made in education and health, road construction, and housing, and other social development programs impacting the lives of the Liberian people positively will be provided to the electorates,” he wrote.
Joseph N. Boakai is the former Vice President of Liberia and the current Standard Bearer of the former ruling party – Unity Party (UP). He contested for the seat of the presidency of Liberia back in 2018 but suffered a massive defeat to now President George M. Weah.
Having served the government in various sectors for over 40 years, Boakai who is close to celebrating his 78th birth anniversary remains a candidate in the country’s forthcoming election in 2023.
As Vice President, he was the President of the Liberian Senate and presided over plenary sessions of the body.
Boakai also performed supervisory functions over a number of institutions and agencies including the Liberia National Lotteries (LOTTO), the Liberia Marketing Association (LIMA), the Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), and the National Commission on Disarmament Demobilization Resettlement and Reintegration (NCDDRR), (LINA).
