After six years of the Weah-Taylor leadership, Liberians have changed the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) leadership electing former Liberian Voce President Joseph Nyumah Boakai as the new President of the West African state.
Unity Party’s Joseph N. Boakai was been declared winner of the Presidential runoff election by the National Elections Commission (NEC) yesterday after the electoral body announced the final results of the presidential runoff between incumbent George M. Weah and the former Liberian Vice PResident.
Boakai 78, is taking the mantle of authority after defeating incumbent President George Manneh Weah with 50.64%, constituting 100% of total votes count from Tuesday, November 14, runoff election.
Boakai for the final day of releasing final results from the Presidential Runoff Election by the National Elections Commission’s (NEC), accumulated a total vote of 814,481, constituting 50.64% while football legend turned politician and incumbent George Manneh Weah obtained the total votes of 793,914 constituting 49.36%.
The final results of the just-ended presidential runoff election see the former Vice President Joseph N. Boakai of the Unity Party with a difference of 20,567 votes constituting 1.69% above Mr. Weah of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
In Sinoe County, out of a total 152 of 152, constituting 100%; Joseph N. Boakai received 5,354 constituting 16.62%, while George Manneh Weah received 26,860 constituting 83.38%. In Rivergee County, out of a total 105 of 105 constituting 100%, Joseph N. Boakai received 5,220 constituting 25.12, while George Weah received 15,559, constituting 74.88%.
In Grand Bassa Country, out of a total 405 of 405 constituting 100%, Joseph N. Boakai received 36,816 constituting 45.61%, while Weah received 43,911 amounting to 54.39%. RivergeeCounty, out of a total of 98 of 98 constituting 100%, Joseph N. Boakai received 4,686—19.86%, while George Manneh Weah received 18,906, constituting 80.14%
In Maryland County, of the total of 75 of 75 received 100%, Boakai received 7,057—16.64%, while George Manneh Weah received 35,355–83.36%. In Grand Kru, one of Weah’s stronghold, out of a total 86 of 110 constituting 78.18%, Joseph N. Boakai received 2,425 constituting 10.35%, while George Manneh Weah received 21,011, constituting 89.65%
In Grand Gedeh County, of a total of 163 of 163 constituting 100%, Joseph N. Boakai received 4,218 constituting 9.71%, while Weah received 9,212 constituting 90.29% In western Liberia, Grand Cape Mounty County, of a total of 213 of 213, constituting 100%, Joseph N. Boakai received 24,374, constituting 52.0%, while Weah received 22,465, constituting 47.96%.
In Northern Liberia county of Nimba, home to Boakai’s strong supporter, Prince Y. Johnson, of a total of 735 of 736, constituting 100%, Boakai received 144,646, constituting 74.14%, while Weah received 50,449, constituting 25.86%.
In Gbapolu County of a total of 134 of 134, constituting 100%, Boakai received 15,562—52.80%, while Weah got 13,909, constituting 47.0%. In Montserrado County which host the nation’s capital city, of a total 2008 of 2008, constituting 100%, Boakai received 336,821, constituting 51.74%, while Weah received 314,188, constituting 48.26%; In Margibi County, of 441 of 441 precinct constituting 100%, Boakai received 64,160, constituting 53.99%, while Weah received 54,676, constituting 46.01%.
In Bong County, out of a total of 555 of 555, constituting 100%, Boakai received 64,194—–47.08%, Weah received 72,159, constituting 52.92%. In Lofa County the home of Unity Party’s Joseph N. Boakai, out of a total of 424 of 424, constituting 100%, Boakai received 75,378—-64.60%, Weah received 41,298, constituting 35.40%; In Bomi County, of a total of 171 of 171, constituting 100%, Boakai received 23,359, constituting 59.62%, while Weah received 5,820, constituting 40.38%.
Based on the final results of the presidential runoff, the National Elections Commission (NEC) declared the former Liberian Vice President winner of the Liberian election and is expected to be certificated soon by the Liberian electoral body.
At the same time, incumbent President George M. Weah recently conceded defeat to Ambassador and congratulated the President-elect and pledged to work with the new administration in its traditional period.
President-elect, Joseph Boakai is expected to be inaugurated in January 2024 as Liberia’s 26th President. Weah served just one terms from 2017 to 2023. He was defeated by Mr. Boakai in what seems to be a revenge after Weah defeated Boakai in the 2017 Presidential and Legislative Elections.
The name Joseph Nyuma Boakai stands tall not only for his service as the 29th Vice President of the Republic of Liberia (2006 -2017) in the administration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state, but for his humanity to serve his country, people and the underprivileged.
Reminiscing the time in high school, Joseph N. Boakai, affectionately call ‘Joe,’ was a member of the Hi-Y; in college and throughout his adult life he was associated with the YMCA at the international level serving as Board members. He became a founding member of the Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY), an outstanding member of the Rotarian club International and served as President of the Monrovia Rotary Club. Boakai’s humanitarian work is vast and has earned him many honors.
He has provided hundreds of scholarships both local and international for Liberians, some of whom have since graduated and are making significant contributions to national development.
In healthcare, Joseph Boakai also funded medical treatment and care for many. Many of the programs which are the focus of the Joseph Nyuma Boakai Foundation are offshoots of his kindness. The Foundation is institutionalizing and sustaining strong discipline to prove that Liberians can indeed make development work.
A reviewer of his official biography captures his humanitarian nature in this tribute “He puts his faith in God and practices what he believes: He lives simply and honestly; he cheats no one and holds no grudges against others, no matter the case; he willingly shares whatever he has, no matter how little, and works very hard while denying himself basic pleasures…”
It is said that though the wages were low while working in the Business Office at CWA, Boakai proved highly disciplined and honest. He was never a penny short throughout his many years in the Business Office at CWA. Not once did any parent return to complain about unrecorded payments. Boakai also proved the experts wrong about self-reared children. He was well-behaved, courteous and decent. Never was he subject to disciplinary action by the school.
He displayed the same model behavior through college and his public life. Known for his honesty and integrity, Joe Boakai has championed public integrity and anti–corruption, has lived those values throughout his public career, ran on them in the 2017 presidential race, and will do so again this year. In an interview with an international television station on the question of corruption, he summed up his view on the subject in public life thus, “Corruption in all its manifestations brings about underdevelopment and deprivation, and that is what African leaders should fight against.”
As a humanitarian, former Vice President Boakai is selfless and has demonstrated a keen sense of compassion in his private and public life. Joe Boakai has been providing humanitarian assistance to the needy in Liberian society all his life, and since 2006 has stepped up such interventions. He once said, “ I firmly believe that every person, regardless of the situation or circumstances, has something to offer humanity. Every one of us has built within, the capacity for caring and the capacity … to alleviate human suffering and contribute to human dignity.”
Joe Boakai became a towering figure in Liberian politics by an indomitable will, strong faith in God, hard work, honesty, abiding loyalty to the country, and service to humanity. Boakai’s vision of leadership was summed up in a speech he gave some time ago, when he said: “ I believe serving at the highest level is an obligation; it means that through you, others would be blessed.”
When President Sirleaf two terms ended, vice president Joe Boakai ran for president in 2017, but narrowly lost to current incumbent George Weah in a runoff that year.
He, however, has not quailed in his determination to serve his country at the highest office in the country since that disappointment, declaring a year ago, his intention to contest the October 10, 2023 presidential elections. This determination stems from his conviction that “Liberia is not a poor country, but the perennial problem of this country is mainly triggered by the lack of a sound and honest leadership.” Joe Boakai is on a mission, which he says “…is to ensure that the lost image of Liberia is restored.” And this mission is conveyed in the now ever-popular rallying call slogan of his: THINK LIBERIA, LOVE LIBERIA, BUILD LIBERIA!
The story of Joe Boakai’s rise to national prominence should inspire hope for any African child with courage, determination, faith in God, the spirit of hard work, and dream. Born of poor peasants in the remote village of Wasonga in Lofa County, with extended families straddling across artificial borders into Sierra Leone and Guinea, young Joe was, at an early age, determined that he must go to school.
He walked more than 300 miles twice from Warsonga to Monrovia in search of his dream to be educated. Along the way, on this journey of an uncertain future, he made stops in various places including Bomi Hills in the west of the country and the American rubber giant Firestone Plantation in Harbel (more than 35 miles from the capital), where he helped his guardian in tapping rubber for livelihood. Once in Monrovia, and as with many African children of limited means, he bounced from one family home to another until he enrolled at and graduated from the College of West Africa (CWA), one of Liberia’s prestigious secondary schools. Joe Boakai later graduated from the University of Liberia with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, as well as from the Kansas State University in the United States. As someone born in poverty, Joe Boakai has worked hard most of his life, carving a career for himself in the process.
