“I told them that when I work hard, I believe what I believe in and I showed I could persevere.”
The above statement was Mr. George Weah’s response to critics who did not believe he could achieve success in his football career when he left Liberia in the 1980s to play football. Evidences of his success as a footballer are well known and need not be recounted here.
The same statement is also true of his political career. That he is today being inaugurated as the 24th President of Liberia is a testimony to his hard work, doggedness and perseverance. After all, he beat the candidate of the ruling Unity Party and incumbent Vice President, Mr. Joseph N. Boakai, and 18 others to clinch the highest political office in his country.
The journey, of course, had not been paved with gold but he, his party and supporters remained focused. In 2005, when Mr. Weah first ventured into politics, running against Ellen Johnson, his critics and opponents used his lack of formal education and political experience to campaign against him.
They called him a “babe-in-the-woods” as opposed to Mrs. Johnson who had been a Minister of Finance in the Tolbert administration in the 1970s and had held positions in the Citibank, the World Bank and the United Nations.
His nationality was also brought into question as there were claims that he had become a French citizen while playing professional football with Paris St. Germain.
Responding to the criticism against him and his candidature then, Mr. Weah was quoted as saying, “with all their education and experience, they have governed this nation for hundreds of years. They have never done anything for the nation. I don’t need political experience to give you light and water or to see that the roads are bad. I know where you come from.”
Also, at a campaign rally in 2005, he told Liberians and his supporters, “as I look into your faces tonight, I see that I am your future. As I look into your faces tonight, I see that I am your destiny, I see that your dream will be fulfilled.”
Thirteen years later, his dream and that of his supporters have been fulfilled though his enthusiasm could not get him into the government house then.
Read also: Liberia: George Weah wins runoff, declared President-elect
Following his defeat and bearing in mind what his critics had said, Mr. Weah returned to the classroom and earned himself a degree in Business Administration at DeVry University in Miami, while remaining active in Liberian politics.
In 2009, he returned from the United States to campaign for the Congress for Democratic Change candidate in the Montserrado County Senatorial by-election and in 2011, he ran as Vice President with Mr. Winston Tubman as the Presidential candidate of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). When they lost, he did not lose faith or hope but continued to learn.
2014 saw him contesting for a seat at the Senate to represent Montserrado County. This time, his patience and perseverance paid off as he won a landslide victory beating Robert Sirleaf, son of President Sirleaf-Johnson, who was his closest rival.
With three years of experience in law making, George Weah again launched his bid for the Presidency of his country. Again, his opponents said he was not educated enough and, therefore, not a presidential material but his supporters insisted that though he was not born with a silver spoon, had shown his love for the country and her people especially the lower class from which he came and so refused to back down.
One of his supporters was quoted as saying “I expect freedom of speech, I expect job creation and I believe100% that George Manneh Weah is the only one that can redeem us from this kind of stress that we are in.” Such was the confidence of his supporters!
It was a tough call but Weah held his ground,of course, backed by his supporters and after the October 10, 2017, elections, he garnered more votes than the other contenders including the incumbent Vice President, Boakai who came in second. However, as no candidate won a majority in that round of elections, a run-off was held on December 26, 2017. The run-off had originally been fixed for November 7, but had to be postponed because the LP flag bearer, Charles Brumskine, who came in 3rd place at the October polls had challenged the results at the Supreme Court.
Following the Court’s dismissal of the challenge, the run-off eventually held and Weah garnered over 60% of the votes cast to emerge winner.
Today, the eyes of the world are on him as he takes oath of office as the 24th President of Liberia, to hear and see what he has to offer, first to his fellow country men and women and then to the world even though his critics are still singing the song of his dropping out of school to play football and that three years serving as a senator was not enough to learn how to govern.
To his critics he says; “You want to look at me as a former footballer, but I am a human being, I strive to be excellent and I can be successful.”
It has not been an easy ride but he has gotten to his destination. It is no longer necessary to convince with words but rather by actions. Weah must strive to prove his critics wrong. He has so far made it clear that maintaining peace would be a priority for his government. “Peace is the order of the day, to unite our people and then we will start our programmes,” he said.
Though his agenda are not yet clearly enunciated, it is believed that he will focus on education and agriculture. According to UNICEF, less than half of the children in Liberia finish school while international development rankings put living standards in his country near the bottom.
Expectations are also high that he will focus on provision of electricity and safe – drinking water to majority of the population, create jobs and provide affordable, available and quality health care for the masses as well as motorable roads, among others.
Before now, Mr. Weah has been known for his philanthropy. It was one of the things that won him the support of many in his bid for the highest office. It is expected that now that he has the office and resources of the nation at his disposal, he will impact more and on a larger number of people.
Indeed for President George Oppong Manneh Weah, the journey is not over. Rather he has just taken the first step of a journey that will truly define his place in history.
