2023 Liberia elections: Liberians gear up for Tuesday's election | The Big Stories
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00:00 Welcome back on the AM show, thank you for staying with us.
00:03 Now we kickstart our conversation from the second leg.
00:06 We're heading to Liberia where over 120 observers have been dispatched by the Economic Community
00:12 of West African States for tomorrow's election in that country.
00:17 And now all counties in the country will have ECOWAS presence.
00:21 So far the long-term observation team has been working with the National Electoral Commission
00:26 in Liberia to resolve concerns raised by some stakeholders.
00:30 Nanae Aljuma has been in Monrovia for the election.
00:33 He caught up with Samuel Koku-Anidohu.
00:36 I'll be interacting with him shortly but for now let's listen to some of the engagements
00:41 he has had so far.
00:44 Two days away from the big election in Liberia.
00:49 It's the fourth consecutive election since Liberia adopted democratic rule.
00:56 Today ECOWAS is dispatching its observers to the various counties here in Liberia.
01:02 And Mr. Samuel Koku-Anidohu, a Ghanaian and a politician for that matter, is one of the
01:09 observers on this mission.
01:11 I'll be having a brief interaction with him about what he has picked up so far.
01:16 He's been through town, he's been observing things within Liberia, Monrovia to be precise,
01:21 and he's picked a few things.
01:23 Let's go straight to him and have a conversation with him.
01:25 Mr. Koku-Anidohu, welcome.
01:26 Well, thank you, my brother.
01:27 How has your stay been?
01:29 Well, excellent so far.
01:31 So we are a few days away from the big election.
01:34 Now we know that the UP, the unity party, is trying to stage a comeback in Liberia.
01:43 CDC now is in power, is in control.
01:45 But it looks like the UP is doing everything possible to snatch power from them.
01:52 What has been your observation so far?
01:54 Well, as you are aware, I'm an AQAS observer from Ghana, of course under the auspices of
02:01 the Atanos Institute.
02:05 So we are just here to observe.
02:07 So like you said, today is the main deployment day.
02:10 I am going with my team to Nimba County, which is about a six-hour drive from Monrovia.
02:19 But what we've observed so far is that the security situation seems very much under control.
02:27 There's no heightened security tension.
02:30 Yesterday, for example, was the main campaign day, the last one for the unity party.
02:37 And throughout town, they float freely.
02:40 You hardly saw heavy military police presence.
02:43 And then interestingly, I happen to be around the headquarters of the CDC, which is a ruling
02:48 party.
02:50 And there was not a single human being in CDC colors intending to stop the UP unity
03:00 party from proceeding.
03:03 And for me, I think that the general feeling is that in the buildup to the elections on
03:09 Tuesday, the political parties are campaigning freely.
03:13 Of course, today is also the last day for the ruling government.
03:16 So the city is going to be awash with the [INAUDIBLE]
03:23 Yesterday it was green and white.
03:24 So we observed [INAUDIBLE]
03:32 deployed short-term observers.
03:36 We have long-term observers that have been in for more than a month.
03:39 The chairman and the head of the ECOWAS observer mission is Professor Atahiru Jega.
03:46 He's from Nigeria.
03:49 So generally, we think that the processes have been OK.
03:55 But as we go into the counties today, two days prior to the election, we are now going
03:59 to pick up exact details from the counties in terms of whether materials are available,
04:06 whether the polling offices, polling stations are ready, and whether the political parties
04:10 on the ground also are up and ready for what will happen on Tuesday.
04:15 Thank you very much.
04:16 ECOWAS has about 120 observers here.
04:20 And as you can see here, some of these buses are ready to pick up these observers and take
04:26 them to the various counties.
04:28 They will be doing their jobs.
04:31 So it's been a peaceful process so far.
04:34 ECOWAS is on the grounds, and they are doing everything possible to ensure that Liberia
04:40 continues to have peace, even during the process and after the process.
04:45 So far, the information we have is that the National Electoral Commission here is working
04:52 closely with the ECOWAS team to deal with some of the challenges that have been raised
04:58 by these political parties.
05:01 And things are in place, and the whole of the Liberian country is very calm.
05:09 And they are ready for the election on Tuesday.
05:13 From Monrovia for JOY News, Nanaia Ojema reporting.
05:42 Welcome back on the AM Show.
05:43 Our feed was truncated, and that was why we could not get to Nanaia Ojema.
05:46 We're going to do that shortly.
05:49 But just a reminder that we're staying on the Liberian situation.
05:52 20 candidates vying, 19 of them trying to oust George Opongwea, who has been in power
05:58 since 2017.
06:00 He's seeking a second electoral term.
06:03 Well, Nanaia Ojema earlier had some conversations.
06:08 That's our citizens' microphone today.
06:09 He had some conversations with ordinary Liberians, also including Ghanaians in Liberia.
06:14 We'll take that, right after which we'll be engaging Nanaia Ojema on what the latest
06:19 is ahead of elections tomorrow.
06:22 Good morning and welcome to Monrovia, Rano Street to be precise.
06:28 And it is a commercial area.
06:30 As you can see, it's a whole street with a lot of people, you know, parading their
06:36 wares on the streets for others to come in here and buy.
06:40 It's a very busy street, they tell me.
06:43 But since it's still early in the morning, the people are now coming into town to start
06:49 their daily activities.
06:50 Already, these young men you see behind me, they all trade in second-hand clothing.
06:57 They all trade in clothing.
06:58 And as you can see, these tanks or these barrels have their wares in there.
07:02 That's where they keep it.
07:04 In the morning, they come out, pick them out and, you know, start parading them on the
07:09 streets for people to come in here and trade with them.
07:13 Due to the election that is being held tomorrow, that's Tuesday, I would want to engage them
07:20 in this election coming on 10th.
07:24 What's your opinion about this?
07:26 Well, actually, the elections are coming.
07:30 For me, my opinion, the most important thing is to pray for a peaceful election, transparent
07:37 and peaceful election for me, for this election coming.
07:41 So, how, what are you doing to ensure that Liberia has a peaceful election?
07:48 Provided when the result is coming, people accept the result.
07:52 Because in your game, you expect a defeat.
07:56 You expect a defeat, you embrace it, but not to take it into a violent act.
08:02 What do you think about the current government?
08:05 Do you think that Georgia has done more to deserve a second term?
08:09 Well, for me, from the situation surrounding the current government, for me, I see it,
08:15 I see there's a reason why he's succeeding in the second term.
08:18 Because we see a lot of development, a lot of opportunity, a lot of environment.
08:23 Because the past government, we have not been doing normal business yet.
08:27 People have been running behind, been chasing us.
08:28 But since we get into the government, we have been peaceful and free to do our normal business.
08:32 So for which I've seen, it would be better to get into the second term.
08:36 You think he deserves a second term?
08:37 Yes, he deserves a second term.
08:39 Thank you very much.
08:40 So, come closer.
08:42 Tell me about your opinion on Tuesday's election.
08:46 What do you think?
08:47 First, we want to congratulate ECOWA for sending our people into Liberia.
08:52 It says here that George Manning, we have seen many developments going on in the country.
08:57 But it says Liberia is trying to say that Georgia is not working, it says here.
09:01 But I only have an opinion on the Liberian people to see that Georgia will have a second
09:05 term.
09:06 And to destroy the Georgia government, the hustlers are relaxed.
09:09 You see the police chasing us from one place to another.
09:12 People are not running around with their markets.
09:14 So I have an opinion on Liberia to see that Georgia will have a second term in Liberia.
09:20 There are a lot of people preaching peace in this election.
09:24 Are you ready for one?
09:26 We are not prepared for war, Liberia.
09:28 We have been saying for 14 years that we are not going to see war.
09:30 We have seen nothing.
09:31 The country has stayed back.
09:32 They are supposed to cry and say that they want to bring war back to Liberia.
09:36 We are not prepared for war.
09:40 Thank you very much.
09:41 So, there are a lot more people joining in here.
09:45 The message is simple.
09:46 Ultimately, they are all seeking for peace in this election.
09:50 And secondly, they are also giving us their thoughts on which party they believe can help
09:56 move Liberia forward.
09:58 Thank you very much for joining us here on Joy News.
10:01 Tell me, how prepared are you for the election?
10:04 I am fully prepared.
10:06 100%.
10:07 Is your name on the register?
10:10 Of course, my name is on the register of vote.
10:14 There are a lot of talks concerning peace in this country.
10:18 Are you ready for war?
10:20 Are you working towards ensuring that there is a peaceful election?
10:25 For me, I wish for peace because war is not good.
10:29 War came back to us before.
10:31 We are living testimony of war.
10:33 Anybody who talks about war, that person is an enemy of our own country, Liberia.
10:39 We have no space in the country for war.
10:42 We yearn for peace.
10:44 We pray to God that the election should go smoothly.
10:48 We know there is an opposition party who is seeking to come back into government.
10:54 There is George Rua who has had a first term of six years.
10:59 That is his first term.
11:01 Between the two parties, who are leaders when it comes to the 20 that are seeking for this election,
11:08 which one do you think can help move Liberia forward?
11:11 The CDC, Congress for Autonomic Change.
11:14 They have a vision to move Liberia forward because they have already started.
11:17 Those who left from the past two years, where are they going to change?
11:22 Where are they coming to change?
11:23 Why did they not change, they want to change?
11:25 Why are they looking for the farm?
11:27 So now we prefer the current president to be re-voted to be the next president of Liberia
11:33 because he is doing well.
11:35 There are a lot of things that are not set in the country that he tried to set.
11:38 People try to blame 175 year old, probably own someone who has been president for five years.
11:45 It will never be like that.
11:47 Change is a process, it is a gradual thing.
11:49 So we are only retroactive or change.
11:51 So we cannot change George Rua for those that never did anything for us.
11:55 For now we prefer President George M. Rua to be the next president.
11:59 Do you think George Rua should be maintained?
12:02 George Rua should be re-elected because from what we have seen for the past five years,
12:09 George Rua has worked for three years because of the coronavirus.
12:14 We also saw the 12 years from the past government that we didn't see anything.
12:20 But at least we are anticipating something good and we are also having something good.
12:25 So George Rua re-election is a must.
12:28 You share the same sentiments?
12:30 No, no, no, no. George Rua doesn't have any leadership ability.
12:33 George Rua doesn't have any leadership ability.
12:36 I am a son of this soil, I am a born Liberian.
12:39 And those are some scenes from Monrovia in Liberia.
12:46 Just to situate the conversation before I cross over to Nnaojima via the phone lines,
12:51 you would notice that in the last election in 2017, George Rua had to scrape it through in the second round,
12:57 securing 61% of the votes.
13:00 He actually beat someone who had been vice president for 12 years, Joseph Mwakai.
13:05 The interesting bit, both Joseph Mwakai and George Oponwea are from the indigenous Liberian group.
13:11 They are not of the so-called elite group like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
13:15 who was president before George Oponwea came to power.
13:18 He beat Joseph Mwakai and this time of the 19 who are seeking to replace George Oponwea,
13:25 Joseph Mwakai is one of them hoping to return.
13:28 He's actually 78 and this is the last opportunity you will have to contest.
13:32 Well, to situate the conversation for us, we have Nnaojima who finds himself in Monrovia in Liberia.
13:39 Nnaojima, so walk us through what you have seen or experienced since you got to Monrovia in Liberia
13:47 and what the scenes look like ahead of tomorrow's elections.
13:50 The country is very calm. Things are very, very calm within the streets of Monrovia.
14:02 If, ordinarily, if you should go through the streets, it would be very hard to detect that there is something upcoming tomorrow.
14:11 What would draw your attention to the election tomorrow is the huge billboards and also posters
14:21 that are mounted in the streets of Monrovia, a side that you don't hear people, you know,
14:27 having active conversation about the election itself, unless you decide to move to them and try to bring up such a conversation.
14:36 Going into the minds of people, trying to talk to them and get what they think about the election,
14:43 what they are largely requesting is that all the interested parties in this particular election,
14:50 the National Election Commission, the ECOWAS, the AU and all the other parties work together
14:59 towards ensuring that there is credible election in Liberia and they are anticipating peace after the election.
15:07 It looks like none of the people that I've spoken to so far is ready to go back into the dark ages of the country's history.
15:16 So they are all working towards ensuring that they cast their ballots and peacefully they wait for the ballots to be counted
15:23 and a winner declared by the National Electoral Commission.
15:29 So things are very calm in Monrovia.
15:33 The testing president upon where there's quite a list, 19 of them, including Joseph Wakai,
15:42 who was agriculture minister at the time when Samuel Doe, that is a long time ago when even I was in Liberia then.
15:50 And then he is trying to replace George Oponwia.
15:56 Tell us about the opposition in Liberia currently and what the people have shared with you concerning them.
16:01 So the country is sharply divided, especially in Monrovia between the two candidates.
16:13 The other 18 is very hard to hear conversations going on about the other 18.
16:20 I'm speaking for the city of Monrovia.
16:23 The areas I have been to so far, all you hear on the streets is either the CDC or the UP.
16:31 On Saturday the UP had their final election in Monrovia and you could see the crowd.
16:38 A large crowd that were part of the final rally.
16:44 And how they actually do these rallies is that the crowd that follows these candidates or these political parties
16:53 come together from the party headquarters and march through the principal streets of Monrovia
16:59 just to show numbers and tell people that there's likelihood or they are in good position
17:05 to win the upcoming election that will be held in the country.
17:10 So on Saturday the UP had theirs.
17:14 They went through the principal streets of Monrovia and everybody who saw the numbers
17:19 would think that if it comes to the show of numbers it looks like they are in front.
17:26 But yesterday, that's on Sunday, the CDC also did the same exercise.
17:34 And the numbers there were also very, very huge.
17:37 So it's very difficult to determine which one is in front when it comes to the show of numbers.
17:43 These political parties, you know, they are strongly contesting the other.
17:48 If you speak to the ordinary man who believes in Georgia, he will tell you that when Georgia came to power
17:54 security situation have improved in Liberia.
17:58 And for that reason it is enough for them to start or to vote Georgia.
18:03 They also tell you about the development that Georgia is embarking on in the country.
18:08 They speak of roads, they speak of football pitches, they speak of schools
18:14 and other things that Georgia is building in the country.
18:17 So they believe that when it comes to development, Georgia is doing a lot.
18:21 But Georgia's campaign is dubbed development champions.
18:27 So he is touting his achievements when it comes to development in Monrovia or in Liberia as a country.
18:34 But his opponents will doubt the achievements that is being put out there by the party in power.
18:44 What they will tell you is that when it comes to the economic situation,
18:50 Georgia hasn't done enough to put the country in a better state when it comes to the economy.
18:56 Also, they are doubting their credibility when it comes to the security situation.
19:02 They believe that this achievement that they are touting or that the CDC is touting is not true.
19:10 They cannot take it as a whole.
19:12 They believe that Mr. Bwaka, when he comes to power, will do much more better than what Georgia has done in the past 6 years.
19:21 They are comparing Johnson Sirleaf and Georgia's achievements.
19:25 And they believe that the UP is way beyond the CDC.
19:30 And right before you go, just a brief comment.
19:33 We also know that in the last few elections, there have been runoffs from the information you're picking.
19:38 Is it likely with the 20 contestants, is it likely that this election, too, will go into a runoff?
19:50 You just drew my attention to that as well.
19:54 When you go into the principal streets of Monrovia, a lot of the people are predicting a runoff in this election,
20:02 especially with 18 others who they believe can pull some of the ballots in this particular election.
20:09 So if they are able to pull some of the numbers,
20:14 it is very likely that Georgia and also Mr. Bwaka will not be able to make the 50 plus 1 mark that they are supposed to make
20:26 to be able to call victory for one of these parties.
20:32 So a lot of people are predicting a runoff in this election.
20:36 So whoever you meet, and the person gets to know that you are with the Echoers and you are here to observe the election and also report on it.
20:45 The question they put to you is that when are you leaving?
20:48 When you tell them when your flight is scheduled, they will ask you to extend your date
20:54 because they believe that this election will go for a second round.
20:58 So a lot of people here are predicting a second round and it is very hard to hear one touch victory for either of the two candidates.
21:08 But let me also draw your attention to the work that the AU and the Echoers are doing in Liberia.
21:15 They are supporting them with logistics and also human resources to help Liberia get a credible election.
21:23 Now the major issue is how the election materials will be dispatched tomorrow.
21:30 I already understand that the National Election Committee have been able to hire some helicopters to help them with the dispatch of these materials.
21:41 Also the Echoers and other bodies have donated some vehicles to enable the NEC to reach some hard to reach areas within the country.
21:53 So things are in place. Information that I have from the National Electoral Commission is that they are almost ready.
22:01 They are just putting up, you know, they are dotting their I's and crossing their T's to ensure that there is credible polls tomorrow here.
22:10 What the Liberian people are very, very, you know, anticipating is that they are able to have a credible election.
22:22 The data or the resource is able to be transferred quickly and efficiently to the headquarters of the National Electoral Commission.
22:31 So that at the end of the day there will be a peaceful and credible election in Liberia.
22:36 Naya Ojima reporting from Monrovia bringing us the live scoop as far as what is happening there.
22:44 That election likely to go into a runoff with the about 20 candidates vying tomorrow to become president.
22:52 Of course, the current president, George Oponwia, also looking forward to a second term.
22:57 Well.
22:58 (upbeat music)
23:00 you