Editorial: Five years into his regime with joblessness hitting the sky and corruption widespread in the government, President George Weah keeps raising expectations of Liberians and partisans of his ruling Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) that the best under his administration is yet to come.
Speaking at the 17th anniversary of the ruling CDC over the weekend at the party headquarters in Congo Town, President Weah promised marketers and partisans that the best education opportunities, the best of a stable economy, the best of a good healthcare system, and the best of making Liberia an oasis of peace and reconciliation are yet to be seen under his administration.
But this sounds ironical for a President, who campaigned with the slogan “Change for Hope” and, immediately after taking power, broke down his private home and constructed a bigger, more modernized one, and built 10 duplexes for himself in less than a year.
Five years into his leadership, civil servants’ salary has drastically reduced against astronomical rise in prices and endemic corruption. Notwithstanding, President Weah says the best of his government is yet to come.
The President maintains that the best is yet to come but the combined budget for his Office, Office of the Vice President, President Pro-Tempore, Speaker and Deputy Speaker is US$5 Million far above the combined budget of the five major public hospitals in the country: John F. Kennedy Medical Center, Phebe Hospital, Jackson F. Doe Hospital and Redemption Hospital.
We wonder what best Liberians should expect from the Weah administration that has made it very difficult, if not impossible, for most ordinary citizens to put bread on the table, pay rent or to send their children to school and maintain them there.
What best education opportunities should the country’s youthful population expect when the government’s free public university and tertiary education program is crumbling right before the President’s eyes with the state-run University of Liberia unable to open its doors to the public since its last graduation nearly six months ago?
The ruling CDC wants Liberian electorate to believe that it still has the best yet to deliver for the country when five years running, internal security is at its lowest ebb with mysterious and suspicious deaths being reported across the country every other day, and very little is done by the government to bring perpetrators to book.
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The CDC cannot even find the best brains in its ranks and file to appoint to strategic and professional positions in government with several recent nominations made by President Weah, including head of the Roberts International Airport and recently at the Liberia Maritime Authority rejected by the public and the Liberian Senate. But it says the best is yet to come.
One would have thought that five years into its first term, a government that is seeking re-election should have done much more by now to win re-endorsement from the people rather than raining promises, promises and more promises, as we go to elections next year.
