The president of the Grand Gedeh Bar Association and member- of the Weah Intellectual Movement, Kanio Bai-Gbala- was hosted on Prime FM, where he spoke about issues surrounding why Weah should be re-elected.
Bai-Gbala was appointed Vice Chairperson at the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission in 2019.
The Stage Media fact-checked claims made in the Bai-Gbala interview.
1. George Weah has never been beaten in Montserrado. He ran for President in 2005 and won the majority vote in Montserrado. He ran as a senator in the 2014 by-elections and got the most votes again. He ran in 2017 and won 14 out of 15 counties. Check out the NEC results.
Verification: The claim is True; George Manneh Weah, President of Liberia and Political Leader of the Coalition for Democratic Change is re-contesting the 2023 elections. He has contested two times for President (2005 and 2017).
In 2011, Weah contested as Vice President and in 2014 as Senator in Montserrado.
The National Elections Commission data shows this:
| Year | Montserrado Percentage |
| 2005 | 37% |
| 2011 | 45.8% |
| 2014 | 78% |
| 2017 | 48.56% |
2. Nationwide, tuition Free Tertiary Public education. Yes, this has never happened before in the history of Liberia.
Verification: True, but On October 24, 2019, President Weah took a step towards making college education accessible to all by introducing a groundbreaking Tuition-Free Policy for students at public universities.
The nationwide free tertiary public education has never happened, but it is fair to say that Deputy Minister of Education Latim Da-Thong clarified that President George Weah’s pronouncement of tuition-free for undergraduate students at public tertiary institutions does not cover fees for registration, ID cards, and handbooks, among other expenses.
Recently, Jefferson Tamba Koijee, National Secretary General of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), raised a concern about the imposition of graduation fees, which undermines the true intent of the pro-poor educational policy.
3. President Weah has built pro-poor housing in several counties around Liberia, including Bong, Grand Gedeh, and Nimba.
Verification: True, but. President George Weah launched what the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government called the ‘Pro-Poor’ Housing Units Project in June 2018, six months after assuming the Liberian presidency, in his quest to lift ordinary Liberians out of poverty through the Government’s Pro-Poor Agenda.
President Weah promised to construct over 1,500 pro-poor housing units across the 15 Counties. It is part of the Special Presidential Pro-Poor Housing Units Project, which the President said would bring relief to Liberians in the rural part of the country.
According to information, the government is yet to achieve this promise of building 1,500 housing units but has completed the construction of 133 out of the promised number.
Below is a list of counties and the amount of housing units.
| Counties | # of Houses built |
| Grand Kru County | 8 |
| Nimba | 10 |
| Grand Gedeh | 35 |
| Montserrado | 70 |
| Bong | 10 |
4. The US 2022 State Department report asserts that the press is free and people are free to criticize the government both publicly and privately. Check out the report. Section under freedom of the press.
Verification: Exaggeration. The US 2022 Report says the government generally upheld freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, albeit with some unofficial constraints.
Individuals could generally criticize the government publicly or privately, according to the report, but government officials used the threat of civil defamation suits to limit free expression, and self-censorship was widespread as a result.
5. Extra-judicial killing is defined as killings sanctioned by the government. The US State Department report does not say this.
Verification: Misleading. In 2022, the report says there are credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; and harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.
