Veep Boakai joins 2017 race

In confirmation of earlier report by this paper, Vice President Joseph N. Boakai, has accepted a petition from his home county (Lofa) to contest for the Presidency in 2017.

Mr. Boakai over the weekend accepted the petition from citizens of Lofa to vie for the highest office after the tenure of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

According to eyewitnesses, the ceremony brought together prominent citizens including senators, representatives, both junior and senior ministers of the Unity Party-led government.

VP BoakaI, who has served in office for about 10 years now, promised the people of Lofa County that if given the chance, his administration will prioritize job creation, and Liberians will return to the soil as means of feeding themselves.

He said good will come out of evil and that after 14 years of carnage, Liberians need to heal deep seated wounds, reintegrate everyone back into society, reunify the country, and make it whole again.

The Vice President added: What I see is that all of the concessions in our economy have a combined 40% footprint on our land mass; in other words, that is an equivalent of $19 Billion investment in our economy.
We will form partnerships with concessionaires and engage in an integrate development planning so that all of us use the same services that long after the concessions are gone, those services will sustain our way of life.

Ambassador Boakai added that under his administration, government will jointly plan with concessionaires to meet the collective needs, including training and skilled workforce for the public and private sectors.

“Along with concessionaires, we will jointly develop an energy infrastructure that meets our collective needs―private and public, including water and sanitation services sharing, roads and railway services sharing, modernization, and expansion of our ports of entry, and development of our trade in the services sector.”

By sharing Lofa’s examples with other counties, the 2017 presidential hopeful said, the country can strengthen food production in every county, and Liberians will feed themselves and end the danger to food security― chronic reliance on imported food commodities.

He also said that a strong educational system that will produce the labor force for 21st century markets; developing a functioning and adequate health care system for all; and national healing.

Veep Boakai envisioned a well-structured society, with predictable systems, organized and vibrant urban and rural communities that support family life and advances opportunity for all as well as an IT savvy business and public space, schools and libraries with internet connectivity all across Liberia. The Vice President also envisioned a secure and stable Liberia at peace with itself, that values and practice inclusion and remains a conducive environment for businesses to thrive; opportunity for social and upward mobility, among others. By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor – Edited by Jonathan Browne