Liberia: Transfer Striker

LIBERIA

Transfer Striker

The only African to be named FIFA World Player of the Year, in 1995, incoming Liberian President George Weah, now 51, is used to winning. But his inauguration on Monday was not so much a celebration of victory as the opening whistle of a new, more important and more difficult challenge.

“I do not promise you quick fixes or miracles. Instead, my pledge to you today is that my administration, with your help, will make steady and deliberate progress towards achieving the hopes and aspirations that you cherish in your heart for Mama Liberia,” Weah said in his inaugural speech.

Weah trounced incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai in the final round of presidential elections in December, and his inauguration marks the first peaceful transfer of power for Liberia since 1944, the New York Times reported. But the very characteristics that made the former soccer star popular with voters could spell trouble for his administration.

The key to Liberia’s impressive rebound from the assassinations of two presidents, two consecutive civil wars and the brutal reign of Charles Taylor – now in prison for war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone – was the international savvy of departing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Having worked for the World Bank and the United Nations, she was a technocrat with a genius for securing economic aid and (to a lesser extent) deploying it.

Foreign aid amounts for more than half of Liberia’s gross national income, making it one of the most aid-dependent countries in the world, according to the World Bank. And many believe Johnson Sirleaf herself was the primary reason the money poured in.

“I think a lot of it had to do with her competence and strategy. Once she came into office, donors lined up,” Steven Radelet, an economist at Georgetown University and former adviser to Johnson Sirleaf, told Reuters.

Even before Weah’s election, cracks had begun to show in the façade. Worldwide, high levels of foreign aid are notorious for undermining governments and encouraging corruption, and Liberia wasn’t entirely able to escape the same fate. Despite virtuous promises to route aid through government programs – seen as key to empowering the state – foreign money continued to go directly to aid projects: Only 12% of aid to Liberia in the 2015-16 fiscal year was “on-budget,” the Economist wrote. Meanwhile, Johnson Sirleaf made a crucial misstep in relinquishing her personal oversight of aid projects, resulting in a situation in which “few think Liberia’s government is in control,” the news magazine said.

Now, many fear that Weah – a comparative neophyte – will face difficulty matching his predecessor’s record in either attracting or deploying aid. Since his election as a senator in 2014, he has rarely attended parliament and he has not introduced or co-sponsored any legislation. His soccer career gave him valuable international experience, but he is a high-school dropout with little formal education – a fact that only seemed to endear him to voters.

Radelet told Reuters that some aid programs that ended last year had not been renewed because donors were anxious about the presidential transition, and he predicted that trend would likely continue. Meanwhile, Liberia’s young people – for whom Weah is a hero – are no longer satisfied by peace alone. They want an end to corruption and wholesale improvements in healthcare and education.

To deliver, Weah will need to perform some fancy footwork.