ELA-Zambia on Liberia’s elections

Liberia has gone to the Dogs: Footballer George Weah will be the Ultimate American Puppet President!!!

By Mainda Simataa | ELA General Secretary Comments on the Election of George Weah as 25th Liberian President | 28 December 2017 | Lusaka Zambia |

Why Are Africans Good at Electing and Celebrating Bad Leaders?
From the celebration of Mnangagwa as Zimbabwe’s white-farmers President, to the raucous ululating of Ramaphosa as ANC Leader and 2018 white-monopoly candidate, and now the praise heaped on George Weah as new Liberian President and American puppet; one wonders where and when this mass madness and celebration of the inept, corrupt and mediocre leaders will end?
Weah therefore comes as no surprise; for in Africa, you can always count on the masses to choose unwisely! It is therefore criminal and utterly stupid of the Liberian people to celebrate the election of Weah – a tired and retired footballer with a longing for the spotlight; and think that somehow or other, Weah will succeed were Sirleaf Johnson, a Harvard trained Economist, and American corrupted puppet failed!

Election Miss of the Year
The election of George Weah as Liberia’s 25^th President is a mistake and tragedy for a nation that is yet to recover from the devastating effects of American sponsored political and economic instability! This popular choice of Weah begs the question; why are Africans good at electing bad leaders? Why do they have such a penchant and knack for the inept, mediocre and corrupt? Liberia has gone to the dogs with Weah. Liberia needed a strong-willed man who would stand up to the United States’s rubber and resource-imperialism and say no more interference in my country! But what does the man from AC Milan know about America’s intrigues and long-standing interference in Liberia’s political affairs? The election of Weah makes very sad reading indeed, its opens another dark chapter in the life of that sorry nation of American slaves! Weah will certainly fit into the American Jigsaw puzzle of power as a political pawn, and not King of Liberia, which is what he should be, but is not, nor will ever be! Weah will be remembered as a big mistake!

Liberians will Learn the Hard Way – through Suffering!
The irresponsible and foolish choice of the Liberian masses reminds us of the lamentations of Kenyan born Pan-Africanist and Professor PLO Lumumba. Time and again, he likens African democracy to the analogy of goats electing hyenas to take care of them, and when the goats are consumed by the hyenas, they wonder why? Indeed, how and why should a man whose only fame and claim to the highest office of the land of Liberia be that he is richer than most Liberians, and that he was a great popular footballer enjoying life in Europe while his country was at war with itself? Where has this cheap and dangerous unthinking populist approach to serious matters of State come from? Why would the people of Liberia elect an entertainer whose football skills count for nothing in the political field to lead them?

Indeed, it is tragically true, that President elect, ‘Chicken’ George is the first athlete to ever become president on the African continent because, in many African countries, voters, despite being poorly politically educated, at least have the common sense to know that a leader on the football field is a hopeless choice for any political appointment. This is because politics is the most dynamic, intricate and difficult task of any nation, especially in these globalization times where capitalist nations and corporations are busy planting spineless leaders who can sell off African resources for next to nothing!

In Zambia, Footballers Place is on the Football Field, not Political Office!
In Zambia, the furthest and highest office our footballing hero, Kalusha Bwalya, 1989 Africa footballer of the year ever got to hold was the office of National team coach. Thereafter, he was elected as Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) President. We knew he was good on the ball, but not off the ball. And so society restricted him to areas where he could serve the country well, and in 2012, he delivered the prestigious AFCON Africa Cup to Zambia for the first time! But never have we ever dreamed that he should vie for Republican Presidency one day. Our national problems are too numerous and too complex that a footballer wouldn’t know what to do about the growing domination and impunity of the Chinese, Indians, whites and Lebanese in our country!

Every man must know his limits, his purpose, and certainly, a footballers must know where he best fits in, and he must be kept in his place, lest he make a mess of things, as George Weah will surely do when he realizes Liberia takes its orders from the White House in Washington DC. And given that Washington now has a mad man in the White House, Weah will be a hopeless match for Trump, and will serve as Trumps ball boy and poster boy of American capitalism in Africa. And as soon as he realizes that Liberia is nothing without American dead-aid, he will swallow every word and order he is told, and that is when he will need his dribbling skills on the political field of play, when the Liberian people realize that they have been well and truly dribbled by a man who knows not how Liberia can get out of its economic quagmire!

A Lesson on Choice of Leaders from Plato, Who is the Captain of the Ship?
Plato, in his groundbreaking and immortal postulation of the Republic, once asked a fundamental question which today’s African voter must pay critical attention to, if we are to avoid this present scourge of Africa being misled by foreign-anointed and controlled puppet leaders. The question still stands today as it did 3000 years ago: given the analogy that a nation is a ship sailing on high tempestuous sea’s, who would we, the citizens or passengers aboard that ship want as our captain? Would we pick any man aboard the ship on the basis of his stardom or popularity as an entertainer or some other trade unrelated to sailing; or would we search for a man who is trained and skilled in the art of navigation on the high seas? Logically, we would definitely chose and pick the man knowledgeable and capable of executing the task of ship captain! Why, because we instinctively know that our hopes of arriving at our destiny in one peace depends on the caliber of the man in whom we have entrusted our fate!

Let us Learn to Choose wisely
Let us use our common sense as voters, let us use and not abuse our votes. We can only assure our own safety, freedom and economic prosperity as Africans, by ensuring that the leader of the ship, or the Republic, is a trained and tested seaman; not a populist joker or opportunistic character like Weah who because he had the name and the money decided to try his luck in politics, and won! When we are sick we seek the doctor, when we want bread we seek the baker, when we need fish, the fisherman provides, so why should it be that when we seek a national leader we turn to a man who spent almost his entire life chasing a ball? What skills can one transfer from the football field to the political field?

We Socialists, Pan-Africans, and Progressive forces submit that George Weah should be the first and last African footballer/athlete/entertainer to disgrace our revolutionary politics and bring the African struggle into contempt and ridicule. We love and honour our football legends on the playing field, they amaze and entertain us. But we also know that Political leaders and legends are never born on the football field, they are born and bred from long years of political struggle!

*No More Jokers and Entertainers in African Politics!
*No More Foreign anointed and appointed Political Puppets for President!
*The African Revolution must be led by men from the ranks of the Oppressed!
*Forward with the freedom and Unity of all Africa!