Liberia: Whoever Wins Liberia's Election Faces High Demands for Change

Liberians went to the polls on October 10, 2023, to elect a president and vice president, 15 senators, and 73 members of the House of Representatives in the fourth election since the end of the country's devastating civil war in 2003.It is not about who wins the 2023 presidential elections. For Miatta Johnson, whoever wins must tackle corruption and healthcare.

She is not alone. Stephens Kolokai wants a leader who will act in the best interests of ordinary Liberians. Despite being a mineral-rich country, more than half of the country's population -- 5.2 million people -- live below the poverty line, with significant numbers lacking access to education and basic infrastructure such as electricity, safe drinking water, and improved sanitation, according to the World Bank.

An analysis of the budget from 2018 to 2023 shows that Liberia has spent more than US$327 million on servicing debts, with the amount expected to grow in the coming years. In 2021, the total public debt reached US$1,866 million, up from US$1,781 million in 2020. "Change where? Everything is still the same. Nothing has changed," she argued."The Weah administration developed a strategy to address Liberia's problems, including unemployment, under the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development . One million citizens were supposed to be alleviated from poverty but structural problems of the Liberian economy and its vulnerability to external stocks means the Weah administration failed to achieve this ambition target.

"I see a lot of people becoming drug addicts," he said."Whoever wins must ensure that young people stop using drugs. I am witnessing many things happening in the country. I have seen my fellow youth going astray, addicted to drugs, sleeping on the streets." He, like many people who make up the majority of voters, turned out in mass to vote for the president, vice president, legislators, and some members of the Senate.

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