.... As Liberia awaits the outcome of the upcoming presidential election, these five candidates offer diverse visions for the future of the country, each with their strengths and challenges.
When millions of Liberians vote on October 10, they could be electing one of the top five presidential candidates to lead the country for the next six years.
The man to beat, however, among the 20 candidates is the incumbent, President George Weah, who is seeking reelection after six years in office.
Weah, who came to power in 2017 on a wave of popular support after two unsuccessful attempts, says he was on track to deliver progress in the poverty-stricken West African country, despite the coronavirus pandemic which he said dealt a setback to his original plans.
Similar to his 2017 campaign, the President is focusing on the construction of new roads, a crucial topic during elections, especially as the rainy season cuts off many unpaved routes from the capital, Monrovia, due to adverse weather conditions.
The President counts his administration's free tuition for undergraduate students at all public universities, which was introduced in 2018 as one of his "many signature achievements."
The Weah administration can also boost not only expanded electricity access but also reduced costs from 38 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to an average of 15 cents per kWh as well as ongoing numerous road construction projects across the country.
He also counts the paying of West African Senior School Certificate Examination fees for 9th and 12th graders in public schools as an achievement that would propel him once more to the Presidency.
While on the campaign trail, Weah has also promised when reelected to reduce out-of-pocket healthcare expenses and provide off-the-grid solar energy for public hospitals and secondary schools if re-elected.
However, critics argue that corruption remains pervasive under Weah's leadership. They also highlight economic challenges and rising food prices, as evidence of the government's shortcomings.
The President is seeking re-election with Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, who is highly influential in Bong County, the nation's third most populous county.
The next man closer to the presidency is former Vice President Joseph Boakai, who is eyeing the presidency with decades of experience in Liberia's public sector.
With more than four decades of public sector experience, Boakai calls himself an ordinary, honest man from a modest background who had to work hard. He says integrity has marked his long career which has included criticism of the Weah administration's links to several corruption scandals.
Boakai, as part of his vision, has made agriculture a key campaign issue, vowing to increase domestic rice production and to set up three agricultural machinery hubs in the country. He has also promised to pave the highways connecting country capitals and those connecting Liberia to other countries to improve cross-border trading.
The former vice president has also said that he will work with the legislature to establish a specialized court to fast-track cases of corruption and economic crimes and to support the private sector in developing programs.
Boakai, is attempting the presidency for the second time, lost to Weah massively in the 2017 runoff elections but is hoping to emerge victorious this time.
The 78-year-old was previously Minister of Agriculture from 1983 to 1985, and during the current postwar era, he served as Vice President from 2006 to 2018, under former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Unity Party.
This year, he has formed an alliance with the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR), founded by former warlord-turned-senator Prince Johnson, who is sanctioned by the U.S. for public sector corruption.
Boakai, as part of the agreement, selected Johnson's protégé, Senator Jeremiah Koung, who also hails from Nimba County, as his running mate. Both Nimba County Senators wield significant influence in Nimba, the second most populous county in the country.
In 2017, the MDR's previous alliance with Weah helped him win the second round of elections. Critics of Boakai have, however, said that at 78 years old, he is too old to govern and has been accused of facing health challenges, which he has denied.
His relationship with Johnson and Koung has also been called into question, as he remains silent on the issues of war and economic crimes.
As a dark-horse candidate, Alexander Cummings faces an uphill task of defeating Weah and Boakai, the frontrunners for the October 10 polls, but he remains hopeful of pulling an upset.
Cummings seeks to reinvigorate the country with a technocratic style of governance and bring an end to the dominant control of the opposition Unity Unity and ruling Coalition for Democratic Change for the last 20 years.
He has likened his economic vision to a bowl of rice, one that he is uniquely qualified to help grow, saying that Liberia's numerous problems boil down to the way the economy is structured and the limited impact on the people.
Once that problem is solved, he says, it will lead to the creation of jobs as well as an increase in revenue collection to spend on education, infrastructure, and so forth. Cummings, who in 2017, despite spending heavily and entering the presidential race 18 months ahead of time, secured a 5th place overall, has also promised to establish a $20m empowerment fund as well as support farmers with serious extension service and streamline the country's tax code to create a business-friendly environment.
His running mate is Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine, daughter of the late Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, the founder of the Liberty Party. The younger Brumskine who is contesting with him on Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), a coalition between Cummings' Alternative National Congress and the Liberty Party, is coming with a household name that is deeply entrenched in Liberian politics, and one that would help Cummings' presidential bid.
Cummings, 57, once served as the head of Coca-Cola's African subsidiary between 2001 and 2008 and as its global chief administrative officer from 2008 until he retired in 2016.
Critics, however, noted that Cummings' lack of political experience makes him unfit for the Liberian presidency, which appears more challenging than helping to run Coca-Cola globally.
Another dark-horse candidate is Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe, a human rights lawyer and professor of law. He served as the country's solicitor general during the administration of former President Sirleaf.
Gongloe and his Liberian People's Party have, among other things, promised that the Armed Forces of Liberia, under his watch, would be deployed to solve the country's food crisis.
He believes that the solution to Liberia's low agricultural output is to incentivize the army to engage in mechanized farming, starting with 100 acres of rice farms in each of the fifteen counties.
Gongloe has also promised that if elected, his administration would review the records of the General Auditing Commission audits report for prosecution of corruption cases.
He is also committed to non-interference with the judiciary and the police and plans to introduce legislation to make interference by government officials a felony. He has also promised to provide free and compulsory quality education from kindergarten to grade 12 and establish free vocational schools in all 15 counties.
Gongloe's critics, however, have noted that his agriculture policy would lead to the diversion of the military core defense duties, weaken the national security apparatus, and leave the country vulnerable to external threats.
His running mate, is Dr. Emmanuel Urey Yarkpawolo, a son of Bong County. Yarkpawolo is a former president of the Salvation Army Polyphonic University College (T-SAP) and an Environmental and Resource specialist.
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Gongloe uses a broom as his symbol, promising to clean up the mess left by bad governance and finally put those responsible for the horrors of the 1989-2003 civil war in the dock.
The last among the rest is Dr. Clarence Moniba, who has cast himself as the only candidate unafraid to radically tackle Liberia's numerous problems.
As the youngest presidential candidate, he has repeatedly warned Liberian electorates that they cannot yearn for change by repeatedly turning to the same two political parties, the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change and the former ruling Unity Party, which have been the two major political parties since 2005 and have produced the same results and kept the nation from realizing its full potential.
The son of a former Vice President, Moniba has promised to diversify the economy and create jobs by building "food production zones" in each of the 15 subdivisions.
The most ambitious plans include replacing the current salary structure with an hourly productivity-based minimum rate and the creation of a mortgage scheme to spur infrastructure development and home ownership.
Moniba, who has never held elected political office, worked as a former cabinet Minister in the administration of former President Sirleaf and oversaw the beginning of the Somali Drive and the completion of the Mt. Coffee Hydro projects. He helped secure the funding for the latter, which is US$250 million, as well as other projects.
His vice running mate is former Montserrado County Superintendent, Grace Kpaan. As a seasoned administrator with a wealth of experience in local governance, Kpaan, in 2013, famously exposed a sitting Representative who tried to get her to participate in stealing the county development fund in the "You eat, I eat" scandal.
