George Weah calls on Akufo-Addo to help Liberia succeed

The President of Liberia, George Weah, has called on President Akufo-Addo and by extension Ghanaians to assist Liberia to succeed.

“I am young, I agree, but you are my big brother, and I know that you will help Liberia succeed,” George Weah appealed.

The Liberian President made this known on Friday, April 6, 2018, when he paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House, as part of a two-day visit to Ghana.

The purpose of the visit, according to President George Weah, is to “renew the bonds of friendship and solidarity that there are between the Liberian and Ghanaian people.”

According to him, “Liberia came a long way, and without Ghana, we will not be standing here today. Ghana hosted us, today we can never repay, we just have to make sure that our people continue to relate cordially, and I can assure that the relationship that has existed between our governments will also be mutually beneficial.”

George Weah then pledged to work towards strengthening the existing relationship between Ghana and Liberia, saying “Ghana is my home, and we are here not to just come sight-seeing but to reassure you that the relationship we have will be sustained and strengthened.”

President Akufo-Addo, on his part, said George Weah is the symbol of the progress that Liberia is making after the trauma of the civil war.

He added that “I have known him for some time because we share many characteristics, one of which has been persistent efforts to arrive at where we are today. I believe it was a set time as it was mine. One of the things that I have discovered about him is his honesty and also his commitment to the welfare of his people. That is what has brought him this far.”

Commending the efforts of former President of Liberia, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, he said, “the first female elected leader on our continent did a great deal of work in trying to consolidate the peace, after the years of the traumatic civil war. And one of the most important outcomes of that process of consolidation is that she was able to organise elections which allowed for the first time, I believe, in over 17 years, a peaceful transfer of power from one democratically elected leader of Liberia to another.”

The President Akufo Addo also added, “That is the measure of her achievement, and it is also a measure of how far Liberia has come to put its past behind it, and, in doing so, she chose as her successor a man who is already world famous in his other life as a sportsman, and who has now become a symbol of the hopes of the majority of the people of Liberia, especially of its youth.”