Monrovia, Sept. 30 -- It was the kind of moment politicians plan for and pretend they didn't.

By Rodney D. Sieh

In a hall full of Liberians who had driven in from Maryland, New Jersey, Minnesota and beyond, someone asked President Joseph Nyuma Boakai the question that has hovered over the Executive Mansion since the day he took the oath: Will you run again?

The 81-year-old did not answer. He turned it around. Did they want him to seek another term? The room said yes. The President smiled, the easy smile of a man who has spent more than four decades in Liberian politics, and replied: "I am still entitled to one term."

Seven words. No declaration, no denial. But in a country where the 2029 race has been quietly underway for months, it w...