Liberia: Fainting Promise!

Liberians are divided over the current status of the country rural road corridors, whether they are now passable or impassable under a President who promised to change the narratives of roads deplorability that often leaves vehicles getting stuck in the mud for days and weeks during the raining season.

While some argue in favor of the vow that it is effectively working and kicking, others are strongly detesting and describing it a fainting promise that is so unreliably unattainable.

President Joseph Nyuma Boakai's go-getting promise that no vehicle would get stuck in the mud in his first hundred days in office is being relived as facebook is awash with images of bad roads along the Southeast and other corridors in the interior, with vehicles seen stuck in mud and passengers, with no other options, wresting to push through thick mud to, at least, rescue the situation.

Some Liberians are now waking up to the reality that the ambitious 'no vehicle will get stuck in the mud' vow made by President Boakai seems too far unrealizable as the same old story of passengers/commuters spending days to reach their destinations is being repeated.

Then candidate Amb. Joseph Nyuma Boakai enticed Liberians with the promise to end the bad road debacle regarded as a perennial problem spanning the foundation of the state, though over twenty four Liberians elected to the presidency had the opportunity to fix the problem when the world was largely priceless.

Instead of remaking his country, reports said former President William V.S. Tubman who spent 27 years in office and often praised by his protégées and surrogates for lowering prices of goods and making other conditions suitable, could only smoke cigar and jumped on ships for oversee trips to England and other nations.

Those who had the opportunity to experience Tubman's Liberia said he was by and large focused on self-gratifying crusades while his West African counterparts pushed the hardest to build their countries.

In both 2017 and 2023 election campaigns, candidate Boakai made 'No car will get stuck in the mud in the first hundred days in office' a major commitment if given the chance by Liberians as President.

Apparently weighed down by the decades-long bad road conditions especially during the rainy seasons and consumed by other factors they endless sought solution to, Liberians decided to give Amb. Boakai a chance to prove his leadership worth, making sure the catchphrase of no vehicle getting stuck in the mud is realized.

Upon taking office in January of this year, now President Boakai, having defeated then President George Manneh Weah embarked on the rather tedious task of fulfilling the commitment that resonated well with Liberians, pumping whooping US$22 million dollars to road reconditioning projects across the country as part of his first hundred days deliverables.

The Liberian president said his administration has initiated road projects totalling 783.5km, and provided essential medicine to primary health facilities and restored piped water in three counties.

In a special address on 30 April, Boakai said that contractors, logistics and resources had been mobilized to ensure the rehabilitation and maintenance of several roads.

"Under our 100-day action plan for road maintenance; we earmarked 11 key projects across the country to make sure that primary roads are all pliable within all seasons," he said.

However, the parading images showing vehicles overwhelmed by mud and sometimes stuck have provoked debate and argument between supporters of the President and those aligned to the former administration of President Weah.

Not every is convinced, reading from the trends of the various posts, that those images are real and represent the realities and current conditions of the roads in the Southeast and other parts of the country.

Those in support of the President counter-argued that most of the images being posted do not represent the current conditions of the roads, saying the images are doctored.

The antagonistic opposing views on the status of the interior corridors only shed light on the depth of division politics has brought upon the nation, with no side seems willing to compromise and surrender.

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