Claim: “Former President George Weah scored 8% in 6 years, while Boakai scored 10% in 100 days.”
Verdict: Partly true. The Naymote Partners for Democratic Development 2023 Presidential Meter Project discovered that only 8% of the Weah Government’s initiatives were fully implemented over the last five years.
Full Text: DN News, a local news outlet, posted this article, “Weah scored 8% in 6 years while Boakai scored 10% in 100 days. NAMOTE’s Report According to NAMOTE former President Weah made 292 promises over the last five years ( 2018-2023), and the former leader was unable to fully complete 24 ( 8%) of the 292 promises. Former President Weah scored 8% over five years, while President Boakai scored 10% over the last three months.
The claim by DN News attracted 102 comments, 40 shares, and 83 reactions as per the time of our check. The news outlet relied on Naymote, a pro-democracy group in Liberia established in 2001. The institution has been one of the leading grassroots organizations promoting democracy, peacebuilding, human rights, and civic engagement in Liberia.
Verification: Former President George Weah was inaugurated in 2018, with a six-year term. General and presidential elections were on October 10, 2023, and November 14, 2023, respectively. President Weah and hundreds of parliamentarians recontested the elections, but he lost to President Boakai.
Naymote Partners for Democratic Development tracked presidential promises and reported on their execution annually for a period of five years (January 2018–December 2022).
The 2023 report came 10 months before the general and presidential elections. Weah was elected on a ‘change’ platform, and his primary pledges included economic changes that would enable significant Liberian participation in the economy, as well as combating corruption and improving service delivery.
These commitments were defined in the Coalition for Democratic Change’s (CDC) 2017 election platform, various campaign speeches before the election, the inaugural address, policy announcements (such as the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development, PAPD), and presidential addresses.
The Naymote report details the pledges and initiatives made by Weah during and after the 2017 presidential campaign. The goal of the report was to increase political accountability, impact public policy, and spark dialogue among individuals and stakeholders. This conversation aims to empower voters and give them a voice in examining the social contract between them and their leaders.
This installment of the President Meter Project by Naymote looks at 292 promises made by Weah, his political party, and the administration in the previous five years.
The report states that of the 292 promises, 65 came from the Coalition for Democratic Change 2017 Manifesto, 34 from campaign speeches, policy statements, presidential priority projects (3Ps), and Annual Messages to the Legislature, 6 from the COVID-19 State of Emergency (SoE) relief support, 8 from Pillar 4 of the PAPD, 167 from the President’s Nationwide County Tour of 2021 and 2022, and eight from the President’s speech at the U.S. Summit for Democracy held in December 2021, and 4 from the President’s 65th Armed Forces Day Message on February 11, 2022.
According to the report, just 8% (24 pledges) were fully achieved by the administration in the previous five years. The study also discovered that 91 promises (31% of all promises) were fulfilled during the reporting period. As a result, just 39% of all pledges have been attempted (including both finished and continuing actions).
Almost two-thirds of all pledges, 61% or 177, were classified as ‘not started/not graded’ because the government had not begun work on their execution and there was no public information on their progress.
Conclusion: Naymote reported that 8% (24 promises) were fully implemented by the Weah government over the last five years and not six years as reported by DN News. The Naymote Presidential Meter report focused on five years (2018–2022).
