Liberia’s new president Joseph Boakai on Wednesday called for unity and unity behind him in his first speech since being officially elected on Monday by a very narrow margin.
Boakai, a veteran of Liberian politics, won with 50.64% of the vote, compared with 49.36% for his opponent George Weah, the former football star and incumbent president.
“The elections are now over and we must unite as one people to rebuild our country”, he declared in a speech to the press.
“I implore all Liberians, irrespective of their ethnic origin, county, religion or political party affiliations, to join us on this journey to save our country,” he said.
The new president promised to “extend development to the whole country”, in particular by building roads in the south-east region, which has been “neglected for years”. As during his campaign, he reiterated that the fight against corruption would be one of his priorities and indicated that he would be putting in place a plan for a “smooth and peaceful” transition in the next few days.
He also said that he would carry out a “radical” reform of the security and justice systems and ensure respect for the rule of law.
He added that his administration would promote broad participation “of the people,” which will include Liberians in rural communities, in the country’s decision-making process.
Leading with example
“I promise to lead by example! I promise a Liberia that will benefit all Liberians,” Boakai added. “The Liberian state will no longer be used as a predatory tool by and for a few to the detriment of the majority of the people.”
Concluding his speech, he offered his condolences to all the victims of the accident that plunged his supporters’ celebrations into mourning on Monday evening after a car ploughed into the crowd for an unknown reason, killing at least three people.
According to local news outlet Liberiaobservers, the 78-year-old has been under pressure to form a government of “national unity” due to the closeness of the election.
Liberiaobservers further reported that the President-elect, disclosed that in the coming days, he would announce members of a transitional team who will work with the outgoing government “for a smooth and peaceful transition.”
Weah’s party alleges opposition rigged Liberia poll
However, the party of President George Weah, the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), has alleged that the opposition rigged the presidential run-off vote. It said that while it raised the issue, it would not take the matter further as the party wanted to maintain unity in Liberia.
On Friday evening (Nov. 17), Ballon d’Or winner Weah, who was elected in 2017, conceeded his defeat in the light of the almost final results, winning praise for favouring a non-violent transfer of power.
“We all won. What has happened in our democracy over the last four days is a victory for Liberia and will be a legacy for us as a people, and will mark posterity forever”, said Mr Boakai.
“Over and above the choice of the person called upon to lead this country in search of stability after years of civil war and the Ebola epidemic, one of the issues at stake in the election was the peaceful and regular conduct of the ballot.”
The final results, released on Monday, showed that Boakai he won by just over 20,000 votes.
Local and international election observer groups, including from the regional bloc Ecowas and the European Union, all declared the polls free, fair, transparent, and credible.
But CDC Secretary-General Jefferson Koijee told a news conference on Wednesday evening that his party had proof that the opposition interfered with the vote.
“We have empirical evidences that the elections were stolen,” he said.
He took out a folder in which he said there were tally sheets from 21 counts that showed that there was ballot stuffing. Journalists were not able to see the evidence.
Mr Boakai’s Unity Party has not yet responded to the allegations.
In his widely praised concession speech last week, Mr Weah said “the Liberian people have spoken and we have heard their voice” and that it was “a time for graciousness in defeat, a time to place our country above party, and patriotism above personal interest”.
But he added that the CDC would remain a strong opposition. He is due to step down in January.
At a time when democracy in West Africa has been battered by a succession of coups d’état in recent years (Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger), the acceptance of the results by Weah was seen by some observers as a key indicator.
