MacDella Cooper promises free education

Opposition Liberia Restoration Party presidential candidate MacDella Cooper says she plans to provide free or affordable education here if she is elected Liberia’s President this October.

While acknowledging that the current government has done its best in the education sector here, she told the NewDawn on Wednesday, 6 September in Monrovia that it is time to put action in place.

Madam Cooper is among some 20 presidential candidates contesting the October polls including ruling Unity Party (UP’s) Joseph Nyumah Boakai, former soccer star – turned politician Sen. George Weah, Cllr. Charles Brumskine, businessman Benonie Urey and former corporate executive turned – politician Alexander Cummings, among others.

“We have a lot of ghost employees on the payroll; it is time to get them off and revamp our education system,’’ Madam Cooper says, adding that she is serious to move education forward.

The only female presidential candidate, Madam Cooper says women and children are nearest to her heart, lamenting that too many women are without economic empowerment in this country.

She believes that without economic empowerment, women and children are suffering, thus vowing to change the situation if elected president this October. She says she wants to see women who want to work get access to job, and those who want to stay home get their husbands empowered to take care of the family.

Madam Copper adds that she wants children to be taken off the streets and sent to school. She claims to be targeting at least 2.2 million children for schooling. Concerning reconciliation, she argues that Liberians cannot be asked to reconcile when their children are in hospitals and they cannot afford to pay their hospital bills or get something to eat.

As such, she vows to give Liberians their basic need, put their children in school, and get family heads working to enable them bring funding home to pay their rent. When these things are addressed, she believes that Liberians can now sit down as a people to reconcile.

Her running mate Rev. William R. Sloton notes that he and his boss are the only candidates in the race that have the recipe on how to fight corruption. Rev. Sloton indicates that in order to fight corruption, it has to start from the head. Thus, he says they will sign a social contract probated at the Supreme Court, subjecting the President and Vice President’s offices to audits by a well-known auditing firm that will be very independent.

He says any government official found guilty of offenses after audit will be jailed. Rev. Sloton notes that his standard bearer still enjoys the support of the Party and is still an executive of the party.

By Bridgett Milton–Edited by Winston W. Parley