Liberia’s President George Weah will be talking before the Legislature today in his sixth Annual State of the Nation Address at the time when there are mixed feelings and disillusionment amongst Liberians about his performance as president. Today’s address is the final one for the mandate given him in 2017 to lead as president. His victory in then was overwhelming and it came with expectations from Liberians having witnessed 12 years of President Weah and his Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) persistence to lead the country.
As Liberians and residents yearned and hoped for a better economy and governance six years ago, Weah did not hesitate in raising the expectations of listeners when he promised to fighting corruption and include Liberians in the running of their own economy; assuring Liberians they would ‘not be spectators in their own economy’.
Six years on, it is by now cleared to every Liberian that those promises are farfetched. Other critically required gains were also not ring-fenced and these are telling down on Liberia’s prospect of economic growth and good governance. Over his first term, President Weah was the impulsive spender over the years and did not care about critically analyzing what could be of good to Liberians and the growth of the economy.
Today’s message will be one of recounting progress on projects he met in place and those not so though through such as short-lived physical projects for self-glorification but far from improving the physical qualities of lives of Liberians. Weah is recounting his six years of progress just nine months away from the next elections where his presidency is at stake with lots of odds against him and some of his key officials. The October 10, 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections are clearly uphill battles for all incumbents and it remains to be seen whether Liberians can endure another six years of this dispensation.
In less than two years to this year’s elections, President Weah was given an opportunity change course but people didn’t see much when some powerful regime figures were designated by the US Department of Treasury for various corrupt practices. This provided an opportunity to get some level-heads in the power corridors of the Weah government but it still seems like strings are pulled from behind the scenes.
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