Liberia's President George Weah has delivered on only five of his promises including infrastructural projects with 39 of them ongoing, but he has taken "no tangible actions" on accountability and anti-corruption in the past one year, says a NAYMOTE report released in Monrovia on Wednesday.
NAYMOTE is the National Youth Movement for Transparent Election and it released the report on January 30, 2019 with its partners for Democratic Development on the President Meter Project which has been tracking the Liberian leader's promises.
The President Meter is an independent monitoring tool that enables Liberians and civil society actors to evaluate the performance of President George Manneh Weah and the Coalition for Democratic Change against promises made during and after the 2017 elections.
In his inaugural address on January 22, 2018, the CDC Standard Bearer said: "I am a many of action, I will not disappoint you. I don't believe in eloquent speeches, I will do what I promised during the elections."
The report says during the one year period, it was also observed that no tangible actions have been taken on promises regarding the physically challenged and senior citizens.
"The 5 completed promises include: Payment of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) fees for all students who sat the WAEC exams in 2017 across the country, Renovation of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, the passage of the Land Rights Act, Reduction of salaries for public officials under the Executive Branch of Government, and Pavement of the Doe Community Road to Clara Town," the President Meter report says.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Executive Director of NAYMOTE, Mr. Eddie Jarwolo said he believes that the President Meter Project is the best platform to promote democratic accountability and make elected officials more accessible, accountable and responsive to their constituents. He said this will help in building citizens trust in elections and democratic processes.
Meanwhile, NAYMOTE has made three recommendations in its report that will improve the performance of government in delivering on promises made to the Liberian people.
The Weah government is urge to develop a results-based communication strategy to facilitate a two-way flow of information between the government and citizens; to establish an inter-ministerial committee to coordinate government's efforts in fulfilling promises; and to develop a monitoring and evaluation system for monitoring government's promises and link them to the pillars of the Pro-Poor Agenda and its implementation.
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According to the report, of these 87 promises, 10 were focused on education and training, 8 dealt with health and sanitation, 3 on gender equality, 4 on youth reorientation and empowerment, 5 on physically challenged and senior citizens, 12 focused on sustainable economic growth, 7 highlighted agriculture and forestry. Also, 14 dealt with infrastructure development, 1 highlighted transportation, 5 on justice and human rights, 2 on reconciliation, 3 on security and national defense, 4 on decentralization of institutions and systems, 4 on accountability and anti-corruption and 5 on foreign policy and diplomatic relations.
Overall, 26 of these promises are directed toward the economy and infrastructure development. At the same time, since his inauguration, the President has highlighted in many public statements that infrastructure development, particularly the construction of roads remain the top priority of his government.
The report however said to achieve this, it will require intensive capital investment while accessing the needed capital to make this happen remains a major challenge.
