Liberia: Presidential Aspirant Murdered

Latest reports speak of the shocking murder of Fayiah Gbolie, founder of the opposition Free Democrat Party (FDP) last Thursday at his Congo Town residence. Circumstances of the gruesome murder, which many describe as assassination, remain mysterious. Reports say the incident appeared to have occurred inside his house with the perpetrators dragging his battered remains outside and fleeing the scene. The driver and another man are reportedly on the run. Observers say the murder of this top opposition leader, though initially brave and outspoken but lately reticent about national issues, has highlighted the terrifying imagination of a new phenomenon that appears to be creeping into Liberia's high crime rate.

Presidet Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, addressing the nation last week to end a simmering row over the state-sponsored gag order restraining the coverage of secret recordings of the voice of certain government officials linked to scandals, directed the Justice Ministry to create a joint task force to take all measures to prevent a new wave of lawlessness creeping upon the state. Many received the stunning news of the murder of Mr Gbolie with great shock and consternation, prompting the questions: who killed this man, and for what? As presidential candidate in 1997 General and Presidential Elections, Fayah Gbollie won 0.32% of the vote while the party failed to win any representation in the bicameral legislature. Police investigators say the erstwhile Lofa County Representative in the National Transitional Government Legislative Assembly (NT LA) was hit several times in the head with a piece of clothes stuffed into his mouth .

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