Liberia's CDC vows 'fire for fire' in 2029 at its Martyrs' Day gathering, and the Unity Party answers: 'Liberia is not for war mongers'
Paulita C.C. Wie, a former deputy minister and the keynote speaker at the opposition Congress for Democratic Change's Martyrs' Day commemoration in Kinjor, told supporters the party would no longer 'put Bibles on our chests' and would 'return fire for fire' in the 2029 elections. Another CDC figure warned Liberia could 'return to civil war' if the 2029 vote is manipulated — an outcome no evidence was offered for in the reporting. The party's own national chairman, speaking at the same event, urged supporters to reject violence. Unity Party official Mohammed Ali answered that if the CDC wants to fight, 'we will give them somewhere in the forest to go fight', adding: 'Liberia is not for war mongers.'
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Key points
- Wie's vow in Kinjor: no more 'Bibles on our chests' — 'come 2029, we will return fire for fire'.
- A second CDC figure raised a return to civil war if the 2029 vote is manipulated; no evidence for a rigging plan was presented in the reporting.
- The CDC's own chairman, at the same event, urged supporters to reject violence and uphold the rule of law.
- The Unity Party's answer: 'If they want to fight, we will give them somewhere in the forest to go fight. Liberia is not for war mongers.'
What happened
The remarks came at the CDC's annual Martyrs' Day commemoration, held this year in Kinjor, Gola Konneh District, Grand Cape Mount County, from 4 to 8 November under the theme 'They Carried the Struggle, We Carry Their Legacy'. It honours fallen partisans, above all those killed on 7 November 2011, when state security forces clashed with CDC supporters in Monrovia, and the party used the gathering to establish a National Roll of Fallen CDC Partisans and to open its early mobilisation for 2029.
The CDC governed from 2018 to 2024 under George Weah, who conceded the November 2023 presidential runoff to Joseph Boakai after losing by about 20,500 votes — a peaceful transfer in a country whose civil wars ended in 2003. The next presidential and general elections are due in October 2029.
Both sides, in their own words
Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.
Side A · Congress for Democratic Change (CDC)
- Wie: 'We are not putting Bibles on our chests anymore; come 2029, we will return fire for fire.'
- Wesseh warned Liberia could 'return to civil war' if the government manipulates or steals the 2029 polls; Dennis warned anyone rigging the vote would be chased 'from street to street'.
- National Chairman Kowo, at the same event, urged supporters to reject violence and uphold the rule of law, and called for credible investigations into unresolved political violence.
- Weah's message: the 2029 elections must be approached with determination that the people's choice will be respected.
Side B · Unity Party (UP)
- Ali: 'Liberians are tired of their war tactics... If they want to fight, we will give them somewhere in the forest to go fight. Liberia is not for war mongers.'
- Ali said the CDC turns to threats because it lacks the capacity to compete with the Unity Party on ideas.
Independently verified
Paulita C.C. Wie — a former deputy minister for urban affairs and the commemoration's keynote speaker — told CDC supporters in Kinjor on Saturday: 'To the office of President Weah, we are not putting Bibles on our chests anymore; come 2029, and we will return fire for fire.' She also said: 'If the Unity Party wants war, we will give it to them. If they want peace, we will also give them peace.' CDC vice chairman for political education Alvin Wesseh declared at the commemoration that Liberia could 'return to civil war' if the ruling government attempts to manipulate or steal the 2029 polls, and CDC-USA chairman Success A.B. Dennis warned that anyone attempting to rig the elections would be chased 'from street to street'. The CDC's national chairman, Janga A. Kowo, urged supporters at the same event to 'reject violence, uphold the rule of law, respect political differences, and protect the democratic freedoms of every Liberian', and called for credible, impartial investigations into unresolved incidents of political violence, including the deaths the commemoration honours. Former president George Weah, the CDC's standard-bearer, said in a message delivered by former foreign minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah that the 2029 elections 'must be approached with confidence in the people's right to choose their leaders and determination that their choice will be respected', and that 'our 2029 victory is our final destination'. Unity Party official Mohammed Ali answered on social media: 'Liberians are tired of their war tactics and no one will follow that. If they want to fight, we will give them somewhere in the forest to go fight. Liberia is not for war mongers.' He asked how old Wie was when the civil war started on 24 December 1989, and said the CDC turns to threats because it lacks the intellectual capacity to compete with the Unity Party.Not yet verified
The CDC speakers' premise — that the Unity Party government plans to manipulate or rig the 2029 elections — was asserted at the commemoration without evidence presented in the reporting read.Claim by claim
Why this label: Wie's own words, reported by The Liberian Investigator and by Independent Probe News, two Liberian outlets covering the same event, in agreement on the wording.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Both men's remarks as reported by Independent Probe News. They are the speakers' stated positions and warnings, not findings about the 2029 vote.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Kowo's remarks as reported by The Liberian Investigator. They are carried alongside the harder lines from the same platform because both were said at the one event.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
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Why this label: Weah's message as reported by The Liberian Investigator.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Ali's response as reported by The Liberian Investigator, including his own counter-rhetoric; both sides' words are carried as their positions.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: No evidence for a rigging plan appears in either outlet's report of the event; the allegation is carried as the CDC's position, which is what the Unity Party was answering.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- What was said in Kinjor, by whom, and the Unity Party's answer — from two Liberian outlets' reports of the event.
- That the CDC chairman's call to reject violence was made at the same event as the 'fire for fire' vow.
What we don't know yet
- Any response from Liberia's National Elections Commission, the government, or civil-society and religious bodies — none was in the reporting read.
- Any evidence for the CDC's claim that the government plans to manipulate the 2029 elections — none was presented at the event in the reporting read.
Why it matters
War language carries a particular weight in Liberia, where two civil wars killed roughly a quarter of a million people. Three years before the vote, the main opposition's platform produced both a 'fire for fire' vow and its own chairman's call to reject violence — and the governing party answered in kind rather than in calm. How far the rhetoric travels, and whether election officials and civil society answer it, will shape the temperature of the whole 2029 cycle.
Background
Show the background timeline (6)
Liberia's two civil wars kill roughly a quarter of a million people.
State security forces clash with CDC supporters in Monrovia; the deaths are at the centre of the party's Martyrs' Day commemoration.
The CDC governs under President George Weah.
Weah concedes the presidential runoff to Joseph Boakai, losing by about 20,500 votes.
Martyrs' Day commemoration in Kinjor; Wie's 'fire for fire' keynote and the Unity Party's answer.
Liberia's next presidential and general elections are due.
Update history
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Published in Checking state — the words are on the record, and any response from the elections commission or the government is awaited.