‘Boakai’s packed car can’t kick’ 

By Lincoln G. Peters 

Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah and Maritime Authority chief Eugene Nagbe have launched an anti-Joseph Nyumah Boakai attack, equating him to an old used car that cannot kick.

The two senior administration officials suggested on state broadcaster ELBC Monday, 19 June 2023 that Boakai’s car has been packed for approximately eighteen years, and he has nothing to rescue in Liberia.

“The former Vice President said that he was packed for twelve years in the garage. Now let me ask if you packed a car for twelve years, it’s not a new car, but a used car,” said Minister Tweah. 

The former Liberian vice president brands his 2023 campaign as the Rescue Team, but the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) suggests that the Boakai presidential campaign cannot be a rescue mission.

It insists that Boakai and former president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s Unity Party regime squandered its opportunities.

“You put [a] used car in the garage and you packed it and locked it, twelve years that you [were] supposed to be driving it, the car was packed,” Tweah continued. 

“With that, it has to be understood by Amb. Boakai and team that he can’t rescue anything in this country. We have to be brutally honest [with] the Liberian People.” 

Mr. Tweah and Commissioner Nagbe criticized both Amb. Boakai’s ‘Rescue Team’ and Mr. Alexander B. Cummings’ campaign which is branded as the “Fixer.”

“What we have to say is that the President is succeeding because of the impact he is [making],” Mr. Tweah noted. 

Minister argued that Liberians want to hear the truth, and not what you think they want to hear. He said telling them the truth would make Liberians respect them. 

He explained that the government is succeeding not because of politics, but because of the hard decision it took during tough times to stabilize the country’s economy and address the bread-and-butter issues.

“When people [were] protesting here and everywhere, we took the hard decision. Now we have stabilized the state, we have addressed the bread and butter issues so Amb. Boakai has nothing to rescue,” said Tweah. 

He continued that Boakai didn’t rescue the price of rice in 2014-15 when it was US$16. He added that Boakai didn’t intervene to stabilize the cost of electricity, and the CDC government has brought it from 35 cents to 14 cents.

He said it is already being rescued, pondering as to what is there to be rescued.

For his part, Liberia Maritime Authority Commissioner-General Mr. Eugene Lenn Nagbe said President Weah is rescuing Liberia from Amb. Boakai’s 40 years of failure. 

He described Amb. Boakai’s rescue ticket is a ticket that is full of deception, lies, and pretense. 

Talking about Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) leader Mr. Alexander B. Cummings’ ‘Fixer Ticket,’ Commissioner Nagbe wondered what Mr. Cummings and his team want to fix.

He wondered what Cummings that didn’t do he wanted to fix now, even though he made millions while working with Coca-Cola.

“I just don’t know how to call him, Mr. Cummings, a millionaire because Mr. Urey says he is not a millionaire,” said Mr. Nagbe. 

“Okay, let me say this, the alleged multi-millionaire, when he had all his money, didn’t come back to help the Liberian people. It was President Weah who came back and was paying people’s school fees and buying [a] bus for the University,” Nagbe explained.