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Rich Profile Of Joseph Boakai, Political Veteran Set To Lead Liberia

Published

2 years ago

November 18, 2023

Joseph Boakai, who is expected to win the presidency in Liberia after incumbent leader George Weah conceded election defeat, has four decades of political experience behind him.

Boakai was vice president from 2006 to 2018 to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president, who rebuilt the ravaged country after a civil war left an estimated 250,000 dead.

This week’s vote was Boakai’s second run for the top job after he lost to President George Weah in a 2017 run-off.

The two faced off again in a second-round vote on Tuesday, following last month’s hard-fought first ballot, in which neither secured an outright victory.

Boakai, 78, has castigated the record of his opponent, a former international star footballer, and emphasised his own experience in office, proposing a “rescue plan” for the West African country.

He has pledged to improve infrastructure, invest in agriculture, attract investment, open the country to tourism and restore Liberia’s reputation.

“His motivation is to rescue Liberia from the current state it is in,” Mohammed Ali, Boakai’s Unity Party spokesman, told AFP ahead of the vote.

He highlighted an “influx of illicit drugs, the increase in the poverty rate (and) the image of the country being so low” as problems that have worsened under Weah’s presidency.

His strategy seemed to have worked.

While six years ago Boakai won 28.8 percent in the first round and 38.5 percent in the second, he pulled level with Weah in this year’s first round, with both receiving about 43 percent of the vote.

With almost all the polling stations tallied after the latest run-off, Boakai had garnered 50.89 percent of votes against Weah’s 49.11 percent.

– Alliances –

Boakai has promised an inclusive government, reflecting the country’s political, ethnic, regional, religious and gender diversity.

Some of the 18 other candidates who were now out of the second-round race have endorsed him.

In the first round, he skillfully built alliances with local political leaders, such as the former warlord Prince Johnson, who supported Weah in 2017 and still enjoys strong support in his native Nimba County.

An ally of Johnson — now a member of the Liberian Senate who is under US sanctions for corruption and was seen in a 1990 video sipping beer while his soldiers torture and kill president Samuel Doe — is Boakai’s running mate.

Their ticket won easily in the heavily populated northeastern region.

Like 57-year-old Weah, Boakai is from the Indigenous population and not the US-Liberian elite, who founded the free nation and were descended from slaves.

He was born in a remote village in Lofa County near the borders with Guinea and Sierra Leone, often called Liberia’s “breadbasket”.

He was agriculture minister from 1983 to 1985 under Doe.

Boakai portrays himself as a simple man who rose from humble origins through hard work. He is married with four children.

– Age and credentials –

Throughout the campaign, his team presented Boakai as a man of integrity whose credentials make him the only candidate able to tackle corruption — one of Weah’s key 2017 promises and one on which some voters say he has failed.

“He believes in perfection, he takes note of everything,” his senior adviser Augustin Konneh told AFP.

“Boakai is a very humble person.”

His opponents have argued that his age is a handicap, suggesting he is out of touch in a country where 60 percent of the population is under the age of 25.

Rather than aspiring to run the country, they say he should retire and have nicknamed him “Sleepy Joe.”

Headline

Netanyahu Says Israel’s Strikes On Iran Have ‘Clear Support’ Of Trump

Published

19 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel’s air strikes on Iran had the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.

“Our enemy is your enemy… We’re dealing with something that will threaten all of us sooner or later. Our victory will be your victory,” Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to Trump on the US leader’s birthday.

“This is what Israel is doing with the support, the clear support of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the American people and many others in the world.”

Headline

US Lawmaker Shot Dead, Another Wounded In Targeted Attack

Published

19 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

A gunman shot two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota early Saturday, killing one and her husband and wounding the other, in what the northern US state’s governor said were politically motivated attacks.

The shootings came at a moment of deep political divisions in the United States, as thousands took to the streets in protest at the policies of Republican President Donald Trump.

The suspected assailant was still at large, officials said, with a massive manhunt underway.

Trump and US Attorney General Pam Bondi decried what they called “horrific violence” and said the perpetrators would be prosecuted to “the fullest extent of the law.”

State representative Melissa Hortman — the former speaker — and her husband Mark were killed at their home near Minneapolis, Governor Tim Walz told a press conference.

State senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot and wounded, the governor said, his voice breaking with emotion. He said officials remained “cautiously optimistic” they would recover.

“This was an act of targeted political violence,” Walz told reporters.

“Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Hoffman and his wife were shot first, and as police investigated, Hortman and her husband were shot about 90 minutes later.

The suspected gunman was able to escape during an exchange of gunfire with officers near Hortman’s residence, Evans told reporters.

“We’re actively searching for that individual right now,” he said.

– Impersonating law enforcement –

In both cases, authorities believe the assailant was impersonating a law enforcement officer.

“The suspect exploited the trust that our uniform is meant to represent,” said Bob Jacobson, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

An anti-Trump rally in Minneapolis — part of the national wave of “No Kings” protests planned for Saturday — was canceled after police issued a shelter-in-place order because of the shootings.

Flyers for the protests were found in the suspect’s car, as well as a manifesto that named numerous politicians and state officials, police said.

Police are looking for a white man with brown hair, wearing black body armor over a blue shirt and blue pants, local TV station KSTP said.

“We do have the suspect’s car. Suspect is on foot,” said Mark Bruley, the police chief in Brooklyn Park, where Hortman lived.

The United States has been deeply divided since Trump returned to the White House in January.

The Republican president has drawn criticism from Democrats over his harsh deportation policy, his assault on universities and the media and a perceived flouting of limits on executive power as he pushes his agenda.

“At this precipice moment we’re on, this tragic act here in Minnesota should serve as a reminder to all of us,” Walz said.

“The democracy and the debates in the halls of Congress, in state houses, in school boards, is a way to settle our differences peacefully and move society to a better place.”

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar remembered Hortman as a friend who entered politics at the same time as her and dedicated her life to serving the state, working on issues such as women’s rights and clean energy.

“Let me be absolutely clear: this was an act of targeted political violence, and it was an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “We must all condemn it.”

Minnesota’s other US senator, Tina Smith, also issued a statement condemning the shootings.

Former House member Gabby Giffords, who survived a shooting to the head in 2011 and is now a prominent advocate for the prevention of gun violence, described herself as “devastated” by the death of Hortman.

“We must protect our democracy from those who try to destroy it with a gun,” Giffords wrote on X.

Headline

Diplomat, Wife Injured In Iran Strikes On Tel Aviv

Published

20 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

Croatia’s consul in Israel and his wife were lightly injured in Iran’s missile strikes on Tel Aviv, Croatia’s Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Saturday.

“I am shaken by the news that our consul and his wife were injured in the attack on Tel Aviv. The building they live in was hit,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

“I spoke with them and, fortunately, their injuries are minor and they are not in any life-threatening condition.”

Grlic Radman added that his ministry was in constant contact with the Croatian embassy in Israel and was taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its staff.

“We strongly condemn attacks on civilians and diplomatic facilities. We call for immediate de-escalation and restraint,” Grlic Radman said.

Israel on Friday launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, hitting scores of targets across the country, including nuclear and military sites and residential buildings.

Iran said 78 people were killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of Israeli strikes.

Iran retaliated with barrages of drones and missiles at Israel, killing three people and wounding dozens.

AFP