BY: Isaac W. Jackson, Jr.
The nation needs Oldman Boakai around as an elderly statesman. And so, the news about him being rushed to ELWA hospital is deeply troubling. We think the Unity Party owes the entire country the truth about the Oldman’s health condition.
Personally, I am appalled by the political obfuscation being carried out by Boakai’s handlers when they assert that VP Boakai was rushed to ELWA Hospital on January 8, 2023, for precautionary health reasons. “Precautionary observation” sounds like a meaningless phrase to me. Imagine the former Vice President was hospitalized for three days!
We, as citizens who the aging Former VP is aspiring to lead, have the right to know the truth about the health conditions of our potential president, especially one by his own admission is now 80 years old and fitted with a pacemaker he got due “to the pressures of the 2017 campaign and time as Vice President”.
In fact, Article 63 of the Liberian Constitution says something critical about the health conditions of our leaders. If the Oldman’s health is declining rapidly and requires advanced medical check-ups, or as claimed by the UP, “precautionary observation” for at least three days, let’s set politics aside, and mobilize the resources he might need to fly him out of the country.
It is unwise to play politics with the life of the Oldman. The UP leaders who are opting to do so are unfair to the Oldman and our country.
The political argument that Oldman Boakai should be celebrated because he has been hospitalized at a local facility closest to his home is ridiculous and suggest a serious condition for which he couldn’t even go far. Because, in the first place, the pacemaker that was surgically implanted in Oldman Boakai’s chest was not carried out in Liberia’s local medical hospital. In fact, a pacemaker requires regular medical check-ups. And pretending that the medical facilities in Liberia are capable of handling critical cases only because the Oldman may not currently have the means to travel is downright deceptive and dangerous. It compromises the Oldman’s life!
You see, democratic competitions are rigorous, and the desperate push for Boakai to participate in the upcoming democratic competition could just exacerbate his obvious declining health conditions.
We need Oldman Boakai to be round. So, let’s pay attention to his health void of political theatrics and deception. Once more, I wish to renew my prayer for Boakai’s recovery and good health and stand ready to contribute to his travel for proper checkups. This will be a wiser “precautionary observation”.
