The President of Liberia, George Weah, announced on Friday, October 17th, in a national speech that he had conceded defeat to his main challenger in the presidential poll, Joseph Boakai.
The former football star made this announcement when it became clear that his party, the Coalition for Democracy and Change, had lost the election to Bokai’s Unity Party in the run-off election.
In the first round of the historic election on October 10, there was a massive turnout of 79 percent of voters out of about 2.4 million registered voters in the tiny West African country.
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In the first round of the election, the incumbent, George Weah, got 43.83 percent of the total votes cast, while Borkai got 43.44 percent. In that election, Weah led his opponent with a tiny number of just 7,126 votes.
Since none of the candidates failed to secure 50 percent of the votes as required by the constitution, A run-off election was conducted. As of the evening of November 17, Boakai had polled 814,212 of the total 1,625,684 votes, while Weah got 785,778 in the run-off election.
Although the result had not been announced officially by Liberia Election Commission, however, Weah congratulated Borkai. During that period, it was very clear to the world that the veteran politician and former Vice President, Borkai, had won because he was leading Weah with nearly 51 percent of the votes cast.
It will be recalled that George Weah, in 2017, defeated Borkai, who was then the Vice President under the government of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Weah defeated the then-incumbent Vice President by garnering 61.5 percent of the total votes cast.
Reasons George Weah Lost the Election
Mr. Weah won the election years ago because people saw him as an activist who would rescue many of the citizens from the shackles of poverty and corruption. However, many citizens got disappointed as his government was marred with several allegations of corruption and scandals.
1: Allegations of Corruption:
The issue of corruption under his government reached a crescendo in 2022 when the US government, through the Department of Treasury, imposed sanctions against three top officials of the Liberian government, including the Chief of Staff to the President, Nathaniel McGill.
Although President Weah later sacked the indicated Chief of Staff, many Liberians still believed that he was not doing enough to combat corruption in his government.
According to the report by Transparency International on the global corruption index, Liberia has fallen 20 places. It was ranked 142nd in 2022 out of 180 countries surveyed.
2: Rising Cases of Drug Abuse:
The people of Liberia are also irked that the President of Weah couldn’t do much to curb the issue of the drug crisis, which has become very rampant, most especially among young Liberians.
In an interview with the New York Times, a voter called MacPherson Darweh lamented that it is unthinkable to see young Liberians getting addicted to drugs on a daily basis, lamenting that President Weah lacks ideas on how to curb it.
Mr. Darwe added that President Weah doesn’t possess a sense of belonging and does not even understand how to run or govern a country in a proper way.
3: Food Insecurity:
Although Liberia’s economy improved by 4.8 percent in 2022, according to the World Bank’s report. Despite this, it is estimated that over 80 percent of the population are facing food insecurity.
4: Inflation
The World Bank said in July this year that prices of foodstuffs, fuel, and other basic things have increased tremendously over the past year. The report added that more than half of the residents of Liberia are now living below the poverty line, an average of $1.90 per day
5: Alleged Lavish Lifestyle
Weah’s major contender, Borkai had once accused the President of living an extravagant and lavish lifestyle. He also said that he is not in touch with the country’s society.
There Are Great Divisions in Liberia-Weah
Conceding defeat in a national address, Weah said exhibiting such acts of sportsmanship was very necessary as a way of placing national interest above personal interest for the peace and progress of Liberia.
According to Weah, he had called Boakai to congratulate him for emerging victorious in the historic presidential election.
The Liberia President’s speech states that the people have made a decision and their voices have been heard. He, however, lamented that there is a sharp division among the citizens, judging by the closeness of the election’s results.
The former world footballer of the year called on all stakeholders to come together as one with a view to healing the divisions caused by the election so as to have a strong and united country.
