Liberia: Snowe Growing Cold on Weah’s Campaign Team?

Senator Edwin Snowe of Bomi County is maintaining a stoic silence amidst speculation that he has resigned from President George Weah’s reelection campaign team. 

The development, according to sources close to the Senator, is a result of his dissatisfaction with the President and the campaign team for scouting and accepting the endorsement of controversial talk-show host Henry Costa and a few members of the All Liberian People Party. 

Snowe, who steered the Western region campaign for Weah’s reelection, is forced into Liberian politics even though the President lost the region by a slim margin to his rival, former Vice President Joseph Boakai, during the October 10 elections, which has now led to a runoff on November 14.

When questioned, the Senator offered a cryptic response, saying, “No comment to that,” which is unusual for him. The western region, which Snowe was charged to deliver for Weah, comprises Bomi, Gbarpolu, and Grand Cape Mount Counties—a total combined vote of 170,169. 

It is not clear whether Snowe and President Weah will settle their differences, but the alleged fallout would not be strange as both men in the past have had a relationship based on political expediency. Snowe did not support Weah in the 2017 elections, while the President also did not support him during the 2020 senatorial midterm elections.

Snowe’s alleged rift with the reelection campaign team of the President comes just a few days after Costa’s unexpected shift in allegiance. Known for being a vocal critic of the President, Costa’s change of stance has taken many by surprise, as he severed ties with Weah’s key rival, Boakai, just months before the October 10 elections. 

During the early days of the Weah administration, Costa spearheaded some of the country’s biggest political demonstrations over bad governance and accused the President of being corrupt, a position which has since changed as a result of his recent endorsement.

On October 29, Costa, along with the political leader of the All-Liberian Party, Benoni Urey, and his daughter Telia Urey, announced to the country that they had decided to support the reelection bid of the President, despite the disapproval of the ALP executive committee, who had endorsed Boakai for the November 14 run-off election.

“Mr. President, the All Liberian Party has vested significant authority in me,” Urey said while announcing his support for the reelection of the President. “I have been granted the privilege to inform you, Mr. President, that the All Liberian Party endorses your bid for a second term. We want to assure you that today’s endorsement is not just an ordinary one; it is an endorsement from our hearts.” 

Urey was once a staunch ally of Boakai, but they had a fallout when the former Vice President picked Senator Jeremiah Koung of Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) as his running mate.

He then withdrew his party’s support for Boakai but is finding it difficult to have the majority of the executive committee members, led by the party chairman Theodore Momo, to back his move.