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Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
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George Weah
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It is often said that it is an honorable and a humble
thing for one to know his limitations, and thus
confine himself to his comfort zone. To do otherwise
is to open oneself up to scorn and mockery. Mr.
J.M. Addy’s feeble and skewed attempt to mathematically
analyze results of the first round of voting in
Liberia’s recent election, as per his article,
Did Liberian Voters Reject George Weah Candidacy?”,
and published by The Perspective on October 20,
2005, is a case in point, where a “hearsay”
conveyor of gossips tries to role play as a credible
analyst. His begrudgingly laughable postulations
bear no marking of simple arithmetic logic. One
can thus argue that the writer of that article is
analytically challenged; and again, I say it can
be argued.
The Distortions
Mr. Addy weakly and erroneously opined that because
Amb. George Weah won about 30% of the populous vote;
it means that he (Weah) was rejected by the Liberian
voters. And without considering other factors like,
the total number of presidential candidates, number
of voters, number of counties won, etc., Mr. Addy
crudely summarized that because the next five candidates
combine for about 53.4% to Weah’s 30%, therefore
…George Weah is a weak candidate with
very little national appeal and does not enjoy the
majority support of the Liberian people.”
What a joke! Simple arithmetic should tell you that
one and five are not the same; and comparing the
numbers of one candidate (Weah) to the combined
total of five others, and then drawing conclusions
on that basis is synonymous to practicing “fussy
math”. But that is the type of analysis Mr.
Addy expects intelligent people to agree with.
More than that, Mr. Addy labored in vain in his
efforts to distort the issues on which these elections
are based. He argues that the voters were particular
about who had the most PhD degree and the longest
political resume; he also tried to beg all his “educated
candidates” to rally behind his “educated”
candidate, and blah blah blah. Did he not see the
campaigning and the slogans, and the expressions
of the Liberian people? Did he not see how our people
stood in the blazing sun and in some instances,
in the pouring rain to make their voices heard?
But for the sake of argument, let me tell him why
our people voted the way they did. These votes were
the expressions of a bitter and deceived people,
who decided that they were not going to be deceived
any more. These votes were about trust, and the
confidence of the people to place their hope in
someone who they believe would think about them
first, and at all times. These votes were coded
as well as overt messages to sound out to the “career
politicians” and the “political elites”
that there must be a change to their politics of
self- interest only. The people spoke very loud
and clear!
Numbers are Facts
Let’s take a look at what the numbers say,
as opposed to Mr. Addy’s joke. First, given
that there were 22 candidates in the race, and assuming
that each had equal chance of collecting votes,
the average percentage distribution of votes per
candidate spread equally is 4.55%. George Weah alone
took about 30%, which is 25.45% more than the average.
Mr. Weah beat the rest of the 21 candidates convincingly,
and won his closest opponent by close to a staggering
ten percentage points. That is an exceptional performance,
again, given the number of candidates.
But let’s turn our attention to what the Liberian
voters actually said, reading from the way they
voted, and not by the derisory figures that Mr.
Addy wants us to believe exist. There are 15 political
sub-divisions (counties) making up Liberia. Out
of that number, George Weah won six (6) counties
outright (that is about 40% of the total), including
the two most populous counties, Montserrado and
Nimba. In addition to that, Mr. Weah came second
in seven (7) other counties (about 46.67% of the
total), including Grand Bassa and Bong Counties,
the next two populous counties after Montserrado
and Nimba. When you combine those two results, you
have thirteen (13) counties (about 86.67% of the
counties) that believe Mr. Weah may be the better
and or best candidate to lead Liberia into a “brighter
future”.
Now let’s turn our focus to another voting
trend that should punch big holes in Mr. Addy’s
yarn of an analysis. During the first round of voting,
regional and or ethnicity played more than a key
role in how the voters decided who they trust to
be their president. In most cases, they voted along
regional and or ethnic lines. Let’s take a
few examples here. Joseph Korto came second to George
Weah in Nimba with 21.9% of the votes from his county,
but did not win votes in any other county. Charles
Brumskine won Grand Bassa and Rivercess with 58%
and 46% respectively, but didn’t do anything
anywhere else except in Montserrado where he collected
about 12% of the votes. Winston Tubman’s only
showings were in Maryland and Bong (because of his
vice presidential candidate) where he won 31% and
42% respectively. But for George Weah, he swept
the entire southeast, except for Maryland where
he came in a very respectable second. In the central
region, Mr Weah took Nimba and came second in Bong.
In the western region, Mr Weah came second in Cape
Mount, Bomi and Gbarpolu. In the south-central areas,
Mr. Weah won Monsterrado and again came a very respectable
second in Grand Bassa and Rivercess. (Se the NEC
election results @ www.necliberia.org) So, except
for Lofa in the northwest and Margibi (he came 3rd)
in the central region, George Weah received very
substantial votes from every corner of Liberia.
How nationally does Mr. Addy want the votes to be
again? Coming first, second or third in 14 out of
15 counties is more than a national acceptance.
It is a testament that George Weah is indeed the
common bound that holds together our collective
expectations for a peaceful and prosperous Liberia.
So say the voters in Liberia, and no amount of distortion
will change that.
The Voice of the People
The people of Liberia, including the educated and
uneducated, the young and old, men and women, the
haves and the have-nots, friends and foes alike,
spoke emphatically that these elections are about
selecting people who they feel comfortable, people
who they can trust their future, and the future
of their children’s children to. They voted
for people who they felt would better seek their
collective interest and well-being. They challenged
the status quo, and showed their beliefs in the
democratic process. In the run-off, they will again
stand firm in their trust for a candidate who will
put Liberia first, and at all times.
There are many among us who will want us to think
that are people are fools. They often make comments
like, “the Liberian people do not know what
they want”. Well guess what? They know oh
so well! And if you created the conditions for them
to distrust you and your candidates, they certainly
will. Our people know very well who deceived them
in the past, and they know who stood with them during
their hours of distress and need. They are not “stupid”,
rather, they are loyal and they will not hesitate
to express that loyalty anytime! The late legendary
reggae prophet, Robert (Bob) Marley said, “…you
can fool some people sometime, but you can not fool
all the people all the time…” So now,
the people have seen the light, and they will stand
up for their rights! And you will hear the echoes
and feel the vibrations of their voices when they
speak again during the run-off. Liberia for always!!