The just-ended senatorial by-elections in Lofa took many people by surprise, especially opposition politicians of the Unity Party (UP) and critics of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Congress-CDC.
It has been widely believed that the stronghold or support base of the UP has been Lofa, especially Foya, the home town of former Vice president, Joseph N. Boakai.
The election took place as a result of the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision in which Mr. Brownie Samukai, UP's candidate and winner of the first by-election. Samukai and others were found guilty by the lower court for spending the Armed Forces of Liberia's (AFL) money in several millions of United States dollars).
So, on June 28, the National Elections Commission (NEC) held Lofa County by-election. Announcing the result, the Chairman person of the NEC, Madam Davidetta Brown Lansanah on Friday, declared the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC)-backed independent candidate, Cllr. Joseph Jallah as leading in the Lofa County by-elections.
Six candidates that contested for the seat were; Garlakpai Kortimai of Unity Party (UP), Sumo Kupee of the People's Unification Party (PUP), Cllr. Joseph Jallah (Independent), Momo Cyrus (Independent), Beyan Samah, Independent, and Mariamu Fofana (Independent).
"Mr. Joseph Jallah, having scored the highest number of votes is hereby poised to be declared the winner of the Lofa County by-election," NEC Chairman Davidetta Browne Lansana announced at the Commission's headquarters in Monrovia.
NEC boss said, Cllr. Jallah accumulated 22,019 votes to defeat his rival Galakpai Kortimai of the Unity Party with 21,229 votes in the election. With this, it means, Cllr. Jallah, a former Central Bank of Liberia's lawyer, won by just 790 votes.
NEC said the final results announced were for the entire 454 polling places in Lofa County.
Cllr. Jallah was backed by the ruling CDC party, which did not put out any candidate. Prior to NEC announcing the result, two of the six candidates had conceded defeat and congratulated Cllr. Jallah. They include Momo Cyrus and Mariamu Beyan Fofana, both independent candidates.
What went wrong?
According to several analysts, the defeat of the UP candidate in Lofa was due to some level of compliancy. "While the CDC was working months ahead of the elections, the UP was relaxed and thinking that they were in firm grip of the county," Roland Kollie, a political science student at the University of Liberia said.
"Not only that, but also, senior partisans did not go on the ground sooner to work, but decided to wait for few days to the elections to go and campaign. This was a wrong calculation. In politics, never be confident of any situation until you achieve what you want."
Also, Aldolphus Philips, thinks the opposition is broke and not united. "Elections nowadays deal with cash. Note that you are fighting against the ruling establishment and they control all the resources. So, to penetrate, you need to be strong financially. They did not calculate these entirely well and they jumped into the race."
"The tradition was broken down. Modern time changed the narrative entirely. We know that Lofa is highly traditional but with cash, the CDC was able to change the narrative. Not only that but also, the UP stronghold was only in Zorzor, Foya and Voinjama. In the hometown of the former VP, Boakai, Foya, the race was very tight. It tells you the narrative has changed."
Expectations:
The just-ended election and victory of the CDC, it has given them more impetus to further redirect their strategies in the upcoming 2023 presidential elections. It has widely been believed that Lofa was a no-go-zone for CDC, but clearly, this notion has changed.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"I think the UP and others will need to rethink and the opposition community if they should make an impact in the 2023 elections. From what they did, it shows a bad reflection on them," Othello Tumbay, an independent politician
"I think the opposition has a lot of work to do if they should take state power in 2023. They are working against a regime that has some of smart people. If you are to go on the battlefront with these people you should be prepared."
A top official of UP who decided not to be named said, "Some of our own members are not sincere. Most of them are full of deceit. Dishonesty is what most of us have been doing. If we are to win in 2023, we will need to work harder than this, especially in places we think we have supporters. But if not, we are doomed."
