By Lincoln G. Peters
Unity Party (UP) has cataloged a series of “misrepresentations” allegedly contained in the 2023 report released by NAYMOTE Partners for Democratic Development regarding alleged commitments made by the soon-to-be ruling party.
Through its Secretary General Mr. Amos Tweh, the UP claimed that NAYMOTE became self-contradictory by aligning all the promises under the pillar of Amb. Boakai’s signature program AREST, which stands for Agriculture, Road, Sanitation, and Tourism.
In a letter dated 18 December 2023, the party argued that such an alignment of commitments suggests that all promises were teased out of the UP’s manifesto.
Mr. Tweh said as a democratic institution, the UP appreciates NAYMOTE’s commitment to enhance transparency and accountability in government.
“The Unity Party has received the NAYMOTE report titled “Comprehensive Report on Unity Party’s Commitments in the Wake of President-Elect Boakai’s Victory,” said Mr. Tweh.
As an institution that puts a premium on professionalism, Tweh said the UP is concerned about some misrepresentation or what appears to be inadvertent embellishment contained in NAYMOTE’s ‘comprehensive report’ on the Unity Party commitment during the 2023 Presidential and Legislative campaign. Mr. Tweh stated.
He said the Unity Party strongly advises NAYMOTE to make the necessary corrections in its report and moving forward, to engage the relevant authorities in the Unity Party for necessary feedback before the publication of any report quoting the Party or its Standard Bearer.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]
Tweh believes that this will help reinforce their collaborative and inclusive efforts in advancing democratic culture.
“As we prepare to officially receive the gavel of the Liberian Presidency on January 22, 2024, the Unity Party reiterates the commitment of the President-elect, Amb. Joseph Nyumah Boakai to accountable and democratic governance,” said Mr. Tweh.
He noted that freedom of speech and the protection of alternative views will be the hallmark of the UP administration.
According to him, part of the UP’s struggle history has been to encourage the enabling environment for the unhindered participation of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in governance, while independently holding the government accountable to the people.
However, the UP strongly believes that this must be done with a high degree of fairness, lack of bias, and a sense of patriotism and professionalism.
The UP noted that in NAYMOTE’s report released on 30 November 2023, it indicated that the “promises or commitments” were derived from the Unity Party’s manifesto, campaign rallies, media engagements, and public statements.
Your report however failed to tell the listening public how many of the promises came from: Unity Party’s manifesto, campaign rallies, media engagements, public statements, and where these statements were delivered,” Tweh argued.
“Contrary to your institution’s claim that Pillar One has 58 promises/commitments, the pillar actually has nine (9) commitments across the following sub-sectors,” the UP-Chief Scribe continued.
He said there are three commitments for improved economic and financial governance to spur economic growth and development.
He also said there are two commitments regarding promoting agriculture, forestry, and fisheries development to support wealth creation.
Regarding promoting sustainable job creation and ensuring job security, he said there is one commitment.
On improving commerce and industry to support wealth Creation, Mr. Tweh said there is one commitment.
Additionally, he said there are two commitments regarding developing economic infrastructures to support growth, among others.
Mr. Tweh indicated that the UP analysis of NAYMOTE’s report also shows that NAYMOTE was unable to disaggregate or distinguish between the commitments and the agenda/pathways/strategies within the manifesto.
He stated that in the UP Manifesto, the commitments are crystal clear, and below the commitments are pathways/strategies which the document called Agenda.
Tweh noted that there are ways and means of how the commitments would be achieved.
” In the report, sadly, NAYMOTE is mistakenly adding up the agenda items to the commitments- which is not the case and shouldn’t be. This erroneous endeavor goes across all of the pillars as indicated by the NAYMOTE Report.”
