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What
Oppong Did Not Say In Atlanta
Tuesday,
February 22, 2005
By
Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
George
Manneh Weah is like E.F. Hutton, the brokerage giant. When
he talks, people listen, and whenever he doesn’t talk,
people still listen, because those people expect him to
always have something to say, in the wake of the buzz he
continues to generate from the day he began to flirt with
the idea of running for president of Liberia.
Oppong’s flirtation with the presidency led him to
Monrovia months ago, where he was given a royal treatment,
and to Atlanta, Georgia in January, at a gathering billed as
a “Town Hall Meeting” where Liberians thought they were
summoned to hear Weah discuss his vision for the country, to
be followed with a question and answer period.
With his awesome star power, Weah’s presence
brought out those who wouldn’t dare attend a community
meeting, let alone want to be around anything related to
Liberian politics. Liberians, however, came out in droves to
hear something new from the “new (political) kid on the
block,” supposedly with a fresh perspective on Liberia, in
Oppong’s own words.
To the astonishment of all, George Weah perhaps in an
earlier agreement with his handlers decided against using
the occasion to declare his presidential candidacy, to talk
about policy issues, strategies, his platform and his vision
for the country he wants to lead.
Instead, Mr. Weah and his entourage used the meeting
for what is now being interpreted by some as a possible
rally for Liberians to perhaps meet, greet and take pictures
with the semi-retired football star-turned politician, who,
according to many had few words to say.
.
Oppong's
Atlanta Town Hall Meeting in January: courtesy Sahara
Village
With all the negative things said about him since he
hinted about a
possible
run for the presidency, George Weah had the opportunity to
use the gathering and his fame to show Liberians he is not
the intellectual lightweight or no weight they claimed he
is, and is not purblind, but can hang in there toe-to-toe
with celerity and with the best in the political business
when push comes to shove.
George Manneh Weah could have also used the pulpit to
asseverate his beliefs and vision for Liberia about the kind
of president he intends to be once elected. He could have
used the occasion to separate himself from his rivals by
contrasting their differences, and how he Weah, minus his
celebrity is a better candidate than the forty plus
individuals in the race.
After all, politics, like sales requires a pitch that
will sell a product. In order for consumers to trust the
product before buying it, the sales person must convince
those consumers that his or her product is good, and can do
what it has been advertised to do.
Oppong, the politician in this case is the product
that’s been advertised for what he is or is not, and what
he’s capable of doing for Liberia once he’s elected
president.
Other than the glamour of celebrity and name
recognition, in my honest opinion, Oppong, the individual or
“the product” lacks
clarity, is not selling convincingly, and ought to be
recalled and retested before it is exposed once again to the
public.
That’s because Oppong’s meeting in Atlanta was a
waste of time and resources and a colossal failure, because
of what he didn’t say, as compared to what he might have
said had he taken the courage to say what he had on his
mind; instead, he came across to some as diffident when he
and his advisors continued to declare to his audience that
the gathering was not a political one. If not a political
one, what was the meeting about, anyway?
Weah is a wealthy man who probably has Liberia and
its people at heart, and probably is not on an ego journey
as some have suggested.
So far, his handlers and advisors have done a
poor job of presenting George Weah as incompetent and not
ready to be president of Liberia. Weah’s not helping
himself either.
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