Amidst persistent bitter political divide between supporters of the government and the opposition here, President George Manneh Weah is asking Liberians to put aside their differences and come together as one people, placing the national interest above personal and partisan interest.
In a statement delivered Monday on Liberia’s Flag Day which is observed on 24 August each year, Mr. We said the occasion gave yet another opportunity for Liberians to reflect on their collective actions as a people and stand the united course for the continuous betterment of the nation.
“Therefore, as we celebrate our Flag Day as a symbol of patriotism and national unity, let us put aside our differences and come together as one people, placing the national interest above personal and partisan interest,” he says.
Liberia has for years been rocked by in a wave of political tension, but recent developments leading to the 8 December 2020 senatorial election speak more of how the fragile nation is on the brink of chaos if the emerging culture of stone battle between opponents at political events is not speedily averted.
In his Flag Day message, Mr. Weah pleads with Liberians to continue to work peacefully together for “our collective good” because as the national anthem says, in union strong success is sure, “we cannot fail.”
Mr. Weah states that the Lonestar banner has come to symbolize the deeds and valor of the forefathers of this nation to whom Liberians remain constantly indebted.
According to President Weah, the Lonestar has also come to represent the pride and dignity of the Liberian people and to symbolize the hopes and aspirations of all Liberians with its patriotic colors and designs of red and white stripes and a white star on a blue banner.
Mr. Weah says the flag is more than just a piece of cloth, a design, a set of colors, but an emblem used to portray “ourselves and our country to the world.”
He notes that as culturally diverse as “we are, we are all bound together” by the values that the Lonestar banner represents.
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“My fellow Liberians, when we salute our flag, pledge our allegiance to it, we are honoring what Liberia stands for as a nation,” he says.
By Winston W. Parley
