I trust this letter finds you well, and I extend warm regards to the entire Unity Party (UP) as it anticipates assuming leadership in Liberia come January 22, 2024.
The leadership of Naymote Partners for Democratic Development is pleased to receive your rejoinder, dated December 11, 2023. The rejoinder highlighted critical concerns of your party pertaining to the promises identified and documented by Naymote during the presidential election which President-elect Boakai won. We highly value your feedback, recognizing its significance in upholding a standard of fairness, impartiality, and a spirit of patriotism and professionalism in the promise-tracking process.
After a careful review of your concerns, please find our response to each raised issue for clarity:
- Distinguishing Commitments and the Agenda/Pathway/Strategies within the Manifesto:
We recognize that the political commitments of your party, as outlined in the UP platform, constitute specific pledges to address socio-economic and political challenges facing the nation, if elected. Methodologically, we firmly view your agenda as a comprehensive plan that outlines your party’s overarching goals, priorities, and intended actions, if elected. Both political commitments and the agenda in your party platform are interconnected elements forming a cohesive governance framework. Since the agenda defines the party’s actions in fulfilling its commitments to the electorate, we consider them as trackable campaign promises to be evaluated to hold your party accountable upon assumption of office.
Regarding pathways and strategies, we are currently using them to develop indicators for carefully monitoring and evaluating the implementation of your party’s commitments.
- Inability to Disaggregate Commitments According to Sources:
While the official UP platform/manifesto remains the primary reference document for commitments made by the party and the President-elect, it is important to note that our organization utilizes other credible and reliable sources for compiling campaign promises. These sources include both traditional and new social media platforms where public statements made by Mr. Boakai during the political campaign period in different counties across the country were reported and documented. References to these sources were provided in the said report for your verification and confirmation.
The victory speech made by the President-elect was also a reliable source of documented campaign promises.
We strongly believe that relying on different sources for documenting campaign promises provides a more complete and nuanced understanding of political commitments, fostering a well-informed public and supporting robust research, analysis, and assessment.
Please be informed that out of the ninety-three (93) campaign promises reported, eighty-three (83) promises were sourced from the party’s manifesto titled “Unity Party Platform 2023: Building Liberia for Prosperity and Wealth Creation,” as contained in each of its six pillars. Additionally, eight (8) promises were tracked from campaign rallies, and the President-elect made an additional two (2) commitments in his speech delivered on December 20, 2023, following his declaration as the winner of the presidential election by the National Elections Commission (NEC). Note that some commitments/promises from the UP platform were reiterated by the President-elect during campaign rallies.
- 58 Campaign Promises/Commitments Vs 9 Commitments in Pillar 1:
As clarified in point 1 above, your party’s agenda defines intended actions towards fulfilling its commitments to the electorate. Therefore, the 58 agenda items provided in our report are considered trackable campaign promises to be evaluated and hold your party accountable upon assumption of office, as against the 9 commitments mentioned. It is important to highlight that out of the 58 promises, 53 were derived from the party’s manifesto (Arrest document), with the remaining 5 originating from pronouncements made by the President-elect in his victory speech and during campaign rallies in various districts.
The table below provides a summary of the tracked and documented promises that the new government aims to fulfill in its pursuit of enhancing “micro-economic stability and infrastructural development” in Liberia under pillar 1:
While the UP platform/manifesto slated commitments and agendas, there are clearly written promises that are actionable and can be tracked under the manifesto. Naymote did not add any promises to this report; everything was identified and documented from the party’s manifesto, campaign rallies and public statement.
- Classification of All Commitments/Campaign Promises Under the Pillars of the Arrest Document:
We acknowledge your concern about the alignment of promises with the Arrest document and the perception that it suggests all promises were extracted solely from the UP platform/manifesto. Nevertheless, the alignment with the Arrest document was intended to sectorize the promises tracked from other campaign sources, providing a clear organizational framework for identifying and documenting promises.
Moreover, the sources of all the promises reported are clearly indicated in our report.
Naymote is steadfast in upholding the highest standards of integrity and objectivity in its work. We recognize the importance of maintaining a neutral stance in tracking promises, ensuring that the information presented in our reports is accurate, transparent, and reflective of diverse perspectives within our community. Our commitment extends to meeting the standards of fairness, impartiality, and professionalism, utilizing sources that are credible, reliable and can be independently verified.
We value collaboration and open dialogue, and our institution is open to initiating discussions with representatives from the Unity Party-led government. This includes sharing further insights on the progress of promises made, gathering reports/updates, addressing concerns, and collaboratively enhancing our work. Throughout our evaluation process, we will consistently touch base with the government and the party to gather relevant information in order to enrich our assessment.
Moving forward, Naymote will continue to identify, document, analyze data, and release regular updates to the public on the performance of President-elect Joseph N. Boakai, Sr. We are committed to documenting the 100-day deliverables and the roadmap for progress and development, focusing on peace, development, and overall progress for the country, as mentioned by the President-elect during his certification on December 27, 2023, at the NEC.
For additional information or clarification, please feel free to contact us through info@naymote.com or at 0770510479/0886784328.
Respectfully Yours,
