JOSEPH BOAKAI marked his first 100 days in office Wednesday, May 1, 2024 as Liberia's 26th president under a cloud of uncertainty, apprehension, and gloom.
THOUGH HIS administration is beginning to assume a definitive shape, the prevailing tensions in the country, divisions and the inherent fragility of the government, are palpable.
IT'S BECOMING glaring that the enormity of the multiple challenges President Boakai faces and his ability to surmount them and the country from ruin are still being tested.
ADMITTEDLY, 100 days is too short to assess an administration. Nevertheless, the tradition, credited to have been birthed by the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, at the start of his first term in 1932, has taken root and analysts see the period as a pointer to the trajectory of a new helmsman.
BOAKAI'S FIRST steps were riotous. His "no car will get stuck in the mud on any of the major highways" declaration after his inauguration was followed another statement promising to quickly review and find reason for the hardship in areas that are essential to the livelihoods of Liberians received applause from citizens.
PRESIDENT BOAKAI said: "If the price of rice is high, it will be reduced. I have also said that in my first one hundred days, no car will get stuck in the mud on major roads."
DESPITE THE people's disdain for Liberia's political class, there had been high expectations in some quarters that President Boakai would be markedly different from his predecessor, George Weah.
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ADJUDGED to be economically literate, experienced, and accommodating, his repeated promise to run a government of technocrats also raised hopes of a departure from former President Weah's crony, sectional, and nepotistic appointments.
BUT PRESIDENT Weah has assembled mostly politicians, with just a few technocrats thrown in. He also recycled several political actors, among them, over five former lawmakers, most with corruption allegations and investigations clinging to them.
TO MANY disappointed Liberians, the country looks set for another six years of more of the same dosage of poor governance.The country has been thrown into further economic turbulence due to the subsidy removal and naira flotation.
THE IMPRESSION many Liberians have is that President Boakai is working harder to please the political elite, rather than ordinary Liberians. While bringing the political elite, including the discredited and the corrupt on board, he is keeping ordinary Liberians at arm's length.
IT IS too early to write President Boakai off, especially given the enormity of the crises he inherited. The country is wracked by insecurity, divisions, and decay on every front. Industrial unrest reigns, and the economy is getting worse, sending more thousands into poverty.
MANY HAVE lost confidence in the efficacy of the ballot box to produce positive outcomes.President Boakai's first 100 days have been sub-par, detached from the people, and generally uninspiring.
THE NEXT 100 and beyond should be positively different, and begin the process of uniting the country, restoring faith in democracy, salvaging the economy, stamping out insecurity, creating jobs and reversing poverty.
