Vice President Boakai: Set For The Liberian Presidency

With over 26 political parties and some 818 candidates vying for the 73 Parliamentary seats and positions of Vice President and President at the forthcoming elections in October, Vice President Joseph Boakai is set to become President of Liberia, early indicators portent to this trend

By Abubakar Hashim in Monrovia

Cruising along the streets in down town Monrovia, from Broad Street to Doala, through Red Light to Paynesville, up to the counties, Joseph Nyuma Boakai, the Vice President of Liberia is leading recently opinion polls of who will emerge the next President of Liberia, come October this year.

Though campaign for the elections has not officially commenced, his name rings a bell in popular rendezvous and hot spots in Monrovia and in the 15 counties of Africa’s oldest republic.

First elected along President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005 in an atmosphere of a country fast emerging from a long and bitter civil war, the Liberian people overwhelmingly re-elected them in 2011, giving them a firm mandate to continue the good works of re-positioning the country to reap the gains from the first term in office.

Having chats with many Liberians in Monrovia and up the counties, the gains realized by Liberians during the Sirleaf’s Presidency are what Liberians have now decided to carry on with Boakai as President.

In all my stay in Liberia, there is relative peace, tranquility and stability, a pre-requisite for development and investment in Africa.

As Vice President, Joseph Boakai works along with President Sirleaf to build on the tremendous gains made during the first and second term to ensure Liberia’s place among the comity of nations is restored, with a steady focus on economic revitalization, job creation, youth empowerment and the maintenance of law and order.

Liberians call the two “the dynamic duo”, which have set the pace for stability in the country, making it investor – friendly with the people now benefitting from the wealth of the country.
It is this stability that Liberians are now yelling to continue. A nation once on the brink of collapse, once on the ashes of decadence and brutal war is now a stable entity, with investors in droves, trooping in for investment. It is this wealth of experience in bringing about this stabled atmosphere that Liberians see in Joseph Boakai as a credible force for the Presidency.

With over three decades in government, holding various key positions, Boakai becomes a formidable force to become Liberia’s next President.

From a humble beginning, in his home village of Warsonga in the Foya District of Lofa County, the 73-year- old is an exemplary people – centered and dedicated public servant who had served his country diligently.

These qualities of stability, growth and development in Liberia are the sterling attributes and the determining factors that Liberians and, indeed, the international community want to maintain in this fragile country and indeed in all post-war countries in Africa and beyond.

Being a key player in maintaining this stability and development, coupled with his recent naming of a 48-year-old as his running mate, who is the current speaker of the Liberia House of Representatives, Emmanuel Nuquay, who is from the predominantly dominant Pele tribe, Vice President Boakai is now just few inches away to becoming the next President of Liberia.