Sources - Ecowas 'Emissary' in Liberia to Mediate President, Ruling Party Candidate 'Feud'

By Rodney D. Sieh

Monrovia — FrontPageAfrica has reliably learnt that Ghanaian Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori Atta is in the country as an emissary of West African regional leaders looking to broker some kind of peace pipe between the departing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and her vice president Joseph Boakai, he ruling Unity Party's candidate in this year's presidential elections.

While in Monrovia, Mr. Atta has also been meeting with members of the main opposition parties excluding Liberty Party's Charles Walker Brumskine who is said to be in Buchanan.

Mr. Boakai is currently embroiled in a major runoff election battle with football legend turned Senator George Manneh Weah.

Weah, the Standard Bearer of the Coalition for Democratic Change attained 596,037 votes for 38.4 percent to finish atop a field of 20 candidates while Vice President Joseph Boakai for the ruling Unity Party who managed 446,716 votes for 28.8 percent.

The top five is rounded up by Charles Walker Brumskine of the Liberty Party who managed 149,495 votes for 9.6 percent; Prince Johnson of the Movement for Democratic Reconstruction who received 127, 666 votes for 8.2 percent and Alexander Cummings of the Alternative National Congress who received 112, 067 votes for 7.2 percent.

Strains between Sirleaf and her vice president have been visible for months leading to the current presidential and legislative elections. But hit boiling point on the eve of the elections when Cllr. H. Varney G. Sherman took the President to task, suggesting that the party did not need her support.

Said Sherman: "In 2014 she did not support me when I was contesting in Cape Mount to become Senator, but yet I won by 60% and more, so it's possible that Joe Boakai could win by more than 60 percent. I cannot confirm or deny whether she supports the Party".

When asked about Sherman's comments days later, Mr. Boakai told FrontPageAfrica he did not have any problem with anybody. "I have differences with people on the way they think, they want things to happen. I cannot say I do not need support from a partisan of the Unity Party. All partisans of the Unity Party, including the President, their contributions to the ruling party are welcome. So, how can I say a President who has been at the helm of this body for twelve years, how can I say, I won't need her help - if it's not forthcoming, well, I cannot say I don't need it. I need everybody's support".

The crux of the perceived feud, according to sources on both sides is assertions from Mr. Boakai and his supporters that the President has not offered substantial financial assistance to the VP's presidential quest.

Supporters from both the President and her vice president have amplified the feud on social media with insinuations and innuendos that she has thrown her weight behind the candidacy of Weah and the CDC, a claim the President's office has repeatedly denied.

Presidential Press Secretary Jerolinmek Piah recent played down the speculations, charging in a recent statement that the President's support for her vice president remains unhindered.

Piah recounted that several months ago, following lengthy discussions between President Sirleaf and Vice President Boakai and a subsequent petition by the people of Lofa County for the Vice President to contest the 2017 General and Presidential Elections as a candidate for the Liberian Presidency, President Sirleaf made clear and known her support for the bid of her Vice President and comrade for many years.

"We have thought that these re-echoed and renewed messages were enough to clear the minds of those who question the President's commitment to support her Vice President, but the unfolding trend of events is suggesting otherwise. The insinuations and rumor mongering about not supporting the Vice President is continuing unabated. This is really really sad to say the least," he said.

He added: "Our direct response to all of the rumors and misinformation is: As of this point, Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai remains President Sirleaf's choice for the Presidency realizing though that the actual power of determining who becomes President of Liberia from the October elections remain the sole responsibility of the Liberian people who will make the choice through their votes."

The feud was even more visible when Sirleaf announced on state radio other obligations would not permit her to attend the party's official launch in Montserrado County last month. Sirleaf revealed that she had made a prior commitment to some rural women in Suehn-Mecca in Bomi County that she would break grounds for the construction of a clinic in the area that had been deprived of health care facility over the years. "Thousands of people go rally, thousands of partisans go to rallies, not many people spend their time going way to a rural village to break ground for a clinic for a community that has never had it. If that's a wrong priority in the views of some, I accept their view, I respect their view," Pres. Sirleaf said in an interview with the Cyrus/Pat Fame Show.

With less than two weeks remaining to the November 7 presidential run-off, it is unclear how much this late intervention by regional leaders will go to ease the tension between Sirleaf and her vice president. Both candidates are said to be cash-strapped for campaign funds in the dog days of what has been a rugged campaign season.

Contacted Sunday, Presidential spokesman Jerolinmek Piah said he was unaware of the ECOWAS emissary's mission to broker peace between Sirleaf and Boakai.

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