MONROVIA, Montserrado – A little over one month since taking office, President George Weah is expected to chair his first cabinet meeting today at his Ministry of Foreign Affairs office.

According to Weah’s press secretary, Sam Mannah, the president’s delay in holding the first cabinet meeting was due to the prolonged electoral cycle, which consequently shortened the period of transition.

According to Mannah, because of the delays, the president has not completed formulating his cabinet, as some major positions are yet to be occupied.

“However, due to other challenges, we could not convene the cabinet meeting, earlier. So, the president thought it wise to do it now,” he said.

He said the president will set the tone of his ‘pro-poor’ administration by stating to cabinet members his vision for the country during the meeting.

Mannah said for a very long time, the wealth of the country has impacted only a selected few at the expense of the ordinary people, a system Weah sees as unjust and which needs to change.

“He wants to see the ordinary Liberians prosper,” he said. “He wants to see an equitable distribution of the country’s wealth, not just among the selected few. So, this is the tone that the president going to set today, to his cabinet members, and they are expected to follow suit. Whatever decisions or actions they make or take, it has to be in the interest of the ordinary people. If it is not in the interest of the ordinary people, then, you are not in line with the president’s overall agenda.”

With this agenda being enforced, Mannah said Liberians should expect a robust change in all sectors of the country’s governance.

According to him, already the government in some areas has begun to implement its ‘pro-poor’ agenda.

The presidential press secretary was referring to a report by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry that it had imposed a fine on a business for hiking prices.

Commerce Minister Wilson Tarpeh announced on Tuesday that the ministry had fined Fuani Brothers for hiking the price of a carton of eggs from US$35 to US$70.

Featured photo by Lloyd Massah