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Monrovia – Amid report that President George Weah spent over US$ 1 million on foreign travels last year, the Liberian leader has flew out of the country to attend the Confederation of African Football (CAF) awards ceremony, as guest of the Senegalese government.
Since coming to power in less than a year, Weah has visited Senegal about four times, his most recent trip being included.
Just within a month’s time when he was sworn in as president, Weah left for Senegal in February 2018, on a three-legged francophone countries trip to that, Senegal, Morocco and France, while in October the same year, he was in Dakar, Senegal to attend the Africa Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Conference on Beneficial Ownership Transparency, and then in November, he was back in Senegal for a three-day official state visit.
Hardly had the ink dried on a FrontpageAfrica report detailing how in a country with a broken economy the retired soccer player turned politician’s foreign trips during the course of 2018 cost Liberia over a million United States Dollars, when Weah packed his bag and left the country Monday.
The FronpageAfrica report on the president’s foreign trips made last year has sparked arguments among Liberians in many quarters, with some expressing dissatisfaction over the president’s decision to spend millions of United States dollars on foreign trips while he presides over a dwindling economy that is subjecting many of his citizens to experience excruciating hardship under his less than one year rule.
An Executive Mansion statement says while in Senegal, President Weah will be guest of both his Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall and CAF, adding that “the Liberian Leader will join his colleagues, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Adama of the Gambia and host president Macky Sall for this year’s CAF awards ceremony in Dakar.”
As guest of the Government of Senegal, President Weah was on Monday, expected to tour the historic Goree Island and will also address the famous Mariama Ba School popularly known as Lycee d’Excellence Mariama Ba.
The Lycee d’Excellence Mariama Ba, named after Mariam Ba, a prolific writer, feminist and social advocate, is an all-girls school which draws from outstanding students with an ‘A’ average across Senegal. The Goree’ Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was a major hub of the horrible Transatlantic Slave Trade.
In a meeting focused on improving ties among four countries; Liberia, Senegal, Rwanda, and The Gambia, President Weah, while in Dakar, is also expected to hold a closed-door meeting with his host, Senegalese president Sall, as well as his Gambian and Rwandese counterparts, according to the Executive Mansion statement.
The 27th edition of the CAF awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at the Centre international de conférences Abdou Diouf (CICAD), a newly built state of the arts conference center in Dakar.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon (Arsenals), Sane Mane of Senegal (Liverpool) and Mohamed Salah of Egypt (Liverpool) are the three finalists for the CAF 2018 Player of the year. Mohamed Salah is the current holder of the title.
The award ceremonies will be preceded on Monday by a CAF-organized match dubbed Senegal Legends (famous 2002 world cup squad) which will feature a horde of Africa’s soccer legends at the Leopold Senghor Stadium.
The match, which will be witnessed by dignitaries including President Weah, is aimed at paying homage to Senegal’s fallen soccer star, Jules François Bocandé, regarded as one of West Africa’s best footballers of all time and was named an African Football Legend by CAF in 2009.
Africa’s legends will also parade with former stars like Roger Milla and Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Kwame Ayew (Ghana), Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba (Cote d’Ivoire), Nwankwo Kanu and Jayjay Okocha (Nigeria), Hossam Hassan Hussein and Mohammed Aboutrika (Egypt).
President Weah, the only African Ballon d’Or awardee, will be gracing the ceremonies. He won World’s Best, European and Africa’s Best Player of the Year in 1995. He also won the African Player of the Year thrice and runners up twice.
The President will climax his visit on Wednesday with a one-on-one meeting with his Senegalese counterpart, President Sall.
