Citizens on Weah’s presidency

Citizens across Montserrado County and its environs welcome Monday’s inauguration of President George M. Weah, describing him as the only person with the heart to ease their economic woes and left the country out of poverty.

“This is the man we’ve long been looking for as our president, he’s the only person that understands the plight and the suffering the citizens are undergoing in this country, and by officially taking the oaths of office today marks a new day for every Liberian”, says Patrick Kollie, a resident of New Kru Town.

Speaking to this paper in an exclusive interview, he says Weah’s ascendency to the nation’s highest seat, should not be seen just as a transition, but an opportunity for every Liberian, because in his words, the “redeemer has arrived.”

“I think it is about time that the messiah himself redeems his people from the abject poverty that covers this country, how can Liberia be rich with iron ore, rubber and diamond only for the people to be suffering, this is something we believe that President Weah is coming to address.”

In the Clara Town slum community, Weah’s birth place, Massa Togba, a female resident expresses delight and notes that President Weah and his Vice President Jewel have proven to be the real messiah that Liberians have long been crying for all these years.

“I am happy for them, though I did not support them in the election, but the way the entire country is going upside down because of these people especially, President Weah, this truly means he’s going to live up to his promises, and I am glad that Liberians have the leaders of their choice for once”, Massa expresses.

She continues that though President Weah has been sworn in office as President of Liberia, it that should not necessarily mean people should abandon their activities and look up to him, cautioning that the President alone cannot do everything; I will use this opportunity to call on all well-meaning Liberians to join hands in the development of this country.”

Meanwhile, a resident of another slum community, West Point Township, Clarence Toe says he is excited that Liberia now has a President who is so much concern about the living condition of the people, adding that Weah is the only person that is best suited for the Presidency of Liberia, because of his humbleness.

“If you asked me, I can simply tell you that President Weah should have taken state power in 2011, but God has time for everything, so today’s inauguration is just history making for our country, because this is something that we all were crying for, to have a President that thinks on the wellbeing of his citizens; past presidents were only bearing the tile.”

President Weah, a former Liberian international soccer legend, took the oaths of office as Liberia’s 24th democratically elected President at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville on January 22, 2018, in front of world leaders.

He succeeds Africa’s first female elected President Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who ended her two six-year terms Monday in an historic smooth transition of power for the first time in 73 years.

By Lewis S. Teh -Editing by Jonathan Browne