Liberia’s Opposition arrowhead Joseph Boakai, has launched his election campaign to unseat incumbent President George Weah in October.
A mammoth crowd gathered in the Liberia capital of Monrovia as top opposition leader Boakai, 78, flagged off his presidential campaign towards the polls that test former football star Weah’s acceptance and popularity after his first term that has been tagged “chaotic”.
Boakai will going head-to-head with Weah declared his interest to re-run for Liberia’s top seat later this year.
The revelation comes in the midst of growing criticism of Weah, who is charged of being disconnected from the people who are struggling with rising costs and food shortages.
“My fellow citizens, I will be coming to you shortly to ask you to renew for a second time the mandate that you gave me six years ago,” Weah said in his annual State of the Nation address.
Supporters of Boakai defied the rain to wave flags, dance, and voice their demand for change at the stadium on Sunday.
The opposition leader, Boakai of the Unity Party, who has been called “Sleepy Joe” by opponents, was declared the runner-up in Liberia’s 2017 presidential elections that saw Weah take over from former leader Ellen Sirleaf Johnson.
Also present at the campaign were former supporters of Weah, who affirmed their dissatisfaction with the President’s failure to improve living conditions or eliminate corruption in the country.
The West African state has battled and survived a civil war, a deadly Ebola outbreak, and a decline in the prices of commodities in the space of a hundred years.
A former Weah supporter Martha Gould who was at Boakai election campaign launch said, “We thought he (Weah) was going to bring the change he promised, but nothing. I need change for the better.”
The former Ballon d’Or winner became president with high expectations he would better the lives of Liberians despite his lack of political experience but has been held back by several scandals.
Last year, three government officials including Weah’s chief of staff, Nathaniel McGill, were slammed with sanctions by the United States for corruption such as misappropriation of state assets. Weah later relieved them of their duties.
In 2018, arrest warrants were issued by a Liberian court for more than 30 former central bank officials linked with $104 million that went missing.
Weah still holds the most popularity across Liberia as Boakai looks to unseat the incumbent.
According to the World Bank, the economy grew by almost 5% last year due to gains in agriculture and mining.
