Before disarmament
began in 1994 in Liberia, the prevailing question was getting to
validate the number of combatants per warring faction. For the
National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), this number was in the
hundreds of thousand, as expressed by its leader, Charles Taylor.
However, upon completion of the disarmament exercise, the NPFL’s
count fell short of the hundreds of thousands it had boasted, not to
mention the number of arms collected by UNOMIL, the UN outfit! At
the end of the day, Liberians became cognizance of Taylor’s bluff.
This false perception
continues today, with the notion that the Congress for Democratic
Change (CDC) of footballer-turn-politician George Weah has the
numbers to unseat the incumbent in the coming presidential elections
in 2011. For poker players, this is a bluff! No doubt, many
Liberians thronged the streets of Monrovia to see Weah during his
zenith as a soccer star, and even now, just to get a glimpse of him,
but have not inherently placed their confidence in this man to be
their leader and for good reasons too. Most of those who come out to
see Weah are not card carrying CDCers but ordinary Liberians who may
have little to do but roam the streets to find their daily bread,
and who find excitement in chasing after a convoy of cars carrying
their football hero, since football is the most popular sport in
Liberia.
Certainly, there are
those who support Weah and perhaps for good reasons. But the
strength of this number cannot propel Weah to the presidency in
Liberia, especially against an incumbent. Moreover, Weah’s hopes for
a win relies solely on what the incumbent has done and/or was not
able to accomplish, not on what he has accomplished in seeking the
well-being of Liberians. What Weah has yet to do is engage the
Liberian people in a conversation about where he wants to take the
society and how he is going to do that. He has neither shown the
savvy nor the poise for the role he seeks in Liberia. However, he
carries is a huge duffle bag full of doubt, fear and uncertainty
that diminishes his electability and raises the stakes for Liberia.
And so with little to show for winning the hearts of Liberians and
the actual numbers, CDC’s claim to victory come 2011 is again just
but a mere bluff.
Past issues In 2010
Past issues In 2009
Past issues In 2008
Past Issues In 2007
Past Issues In 2006
