It is
often said that behind every successful man, there is a woman. The epic rise of
Liberia’s soccer legend – George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah from the
football pitch to the pinnacle of victory as Liberia’s president-elect paints a
classical portrait of this truism.
Considered
one of Africa’s greatest ever footballers, Weah had taken a shot at the
Liberian presidency in 2005 but lost to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. His second major
political effort in 2011 aimed at the vice-presidency was equally unsuccessful.
But Weah was not to be put down. In the characteristic stamina for which he was
known in football as a world class striker, he mustered a comeback, announcing
his aspiration to run for president again in 2017.
But this time, Weah had his
eyes clearly set on the goal. With his shot on target, he sealed an alliance
with Senator Jewel Howard Taylor – former wife of ex-Liberian leader Charles
Taylor, picking her as vice-presidential candidate.
A fiercely
contested October 10th, 2017 presidential poll ended in a run-off scheduled for
November 7th. Then came Charles Brumskine of the Liberty Party (LP) challenging
the validity of the elections, forcing Liberia’s Supreme Court to put the
presidential run-off on hold. An entire nation held its breath as the world
awaited the decision of the court. After several weeks of waiting, and another
failed attempt by the governing Unity Party (UP) to halt the run-off polls, the
Supreme Court whistled a go-ahead for a December 26th presidential run-off.
All eyes turned
on Liberia as the country’s political odyssey was set to birth a new chapter.
It was Boxing Day, December 26th. The stakes were high as the outcome would
deliver a final verdict in what would be the West African country’s first
transfer of power from one civilian administration to another since 1944. For
Team Weah, it was injury time. This was going to be a defining moment of
history.
Enter
Senator Jewel Howard Taylor – the woman who has been described as “the jewel in
George Weah’s crown.” Married to Charles Taylor just before his election as the
22nd President of Liberia in 1997, she parted ways with the powerful warlord in
2006, while he was living in exile in Nigeria. She went on to build a
formidable political career for herself in a political climate dominated by
men. Her exploits in politics arrested the Liberian nation when she was elected
in 2005 as a senator in Bong County, the nation’s third most populous county.
“The first
thing I’ve done is to believe that I am able to make the changes I talk about.
I have made promises I have fulfilled in education, healthcare and
infrastructure development, and so I hope over the past 12 years Jewel Howard
has become her own person working for peace, working for prosperity and working
for development,” she told AFP in a recent interview.
Although
some political analysts have described Howard Taylor as a surprise pick for
vice-president, as many expected her to run for the presidency herself, her
political alliance with George Weah has proven to be the magic wand the former
World Footballer of the Year needed to finally clinch the Liberian presidency!
In 2005 when
he stood for president, Weah won just 10.7 percent of the vote in Howard
Taylor’s Bong County, but in the first round of voting in 2017 his share of the
vote skyrocketed to 40.6 percent. Clearly, Howard Taylor’s National Patriotic
Party (NPP) coalition with Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) was a
masterstroke.
Howard
Taylor who holds a graduate degree in banking and two bachelors’ in banking and
economics has never minced words about her great admiration for George Weah.
“The George Weah I have come to know, love and respect is one who has a heart
for Liberia. Because of his background, he has felt the pinches of poverty,
loss and inequality. He’s a team leader, he’s a manager, he’s an inspiration to
all of us. What we need at this point in time is not just a President who’s
concerned about infrastructure and youth employment. We need a leader who is
interested in reconciling our people and I think he’s that reconciler. He has a
space at the table for everyone. Our country needs healing, our country needs
unity, our country needs inclusiveness.
This is someone I believe has what it
takes to take us to the next level… When people say he’s just a footballer, I
always say he’s not just a footballer. He’s the best footballer in the world.
No one has beaten his record up till now. And I think he brings all of what he brings
to the field into politics and I know he will be a great leader”, she said of
George Weah in an October 2017 interview.
Weah on his
part has refused to underestimate the humongous political equity picking Jewel
Howard as running mate has added to his aspiration for the country’s top job.
“She’s my colleague in the Senate. She’s a hardworking woman. Now, she’s a
former wife of Charles Taylor. She is a Liberian, capable, qualified, and
Liberian people love her. I also believe in gender and equality, so I think
having a woman as my vice president is a good thing,” he told Deutsche Welle.
With the
official results coming out of the Liberian presidential polls, George Weah nowstands elected as Liberia’s 25th president. Alongside Howard Taylor, he would
be saddled with the enormous task of delivering a future Liberia firmly rooted
on the promise of change and hope.
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