Ganta — a group of government officials and lawmakers of Nimba County in support of President George Weah's re-election bid have been accused of coercing local government officials of the county to follow their footsteps in supporting Weah and Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor.
According to the report, the local officials should have converged at the President's Jamaica Resorts to meet with him in person to affirm their support, but in order not to look like they were being forced, the President and his team of advisors later decided that the ceremony be held in Ganta without him.
FrontPage Africa has gathered that on Saturday, the local government officials including statutory superintendents, commissioners, city mayors, paramount chiefs and town chiefs converged in Ganta and were locked up at the Peace Empire Hotel for hours, as the local press was thrown out and the entire program was held behind closed doors.
Some of the local officials, citing anonymity, said, most of them are not in favor of the idea, but have been threatened with reprisals if they fail to turnout and affix their signatures to the document.
Despite the warning, some of the officials were still hesitant to sign, and as a result, the organizers rescheduled another meeting to be held in Karnplay, Nimba County, FPA gathered.
Some of the officials accused include Deputy Commerce Minister Wilfred Bangura and others who were expelled from the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) Party of Senator Prince Y. Johnson, Representatives Prince O.S. Tokpah (District #2), Joseph Nyan Somwarbi (District #3), and Johnson N. Gwaikolo (District #9).
All of them denied the allegation.
Mr. Bangura, responding via text message said, "This is absurd."
Rep. Tokpah said he was invited to the occasion by the local officials who willingly pledged their support to the President and was never coerced.
"If I support the President, is it a wrong thing? I was there when the chiefs came and pledged their support, all of the citizens came and pledged their support. These people are independent people, how can we prevail on them?" he said.
"The people came upon their own volition, they paid their own way to come to the program. I even left from Monrovia and met them there [Ganta]. Why should you say they forced them? It is a lie from the belly of the devil. And these are things that break down the confidence of the state."
His colleague, Rep. Somwarbi, in an angry tone, said he would only respond if FPA discloses the names of those who made the allegation against him and his colleagues.
"Since you [FPA] want to be anonymous, keep your anonymity and then let them go to a court of competent jurisdiction. Because it is a waste of my time and energy to respond to nonsensical issues," the Nimba District #3 lawmaker snapped.
Rep. Gwaikolo's Chief of Staff, Columbus Dorlaie also said the allegation has no iota of truth in it. He said his boss, as a lawmaker, does not have jurisdiction over the local authorities who fall within the executive, and as such, cannot dictate to them.
He acknowledged that Rep. Gwaikolo attended the occasion based on an invitation accorded him by the local officials.
"That allegation has no basis. It is just malicious and has some undertones. A lawmaker has no right to go and engage or intimidate local officials that fall within the executive to vote for a presidential candidate. A lawmaker does not appoint local officials, a lawmaker does not supervise local officials, they fall within the executive... But for someone to link my lawmaker or District #9 lawmaker to coercing somebody to support the President, that is not to my knowledge and I don't think anyone should give credence to it.
Ignoring the Constitution
The Constitution of Liberia mandates that most of these local officials should be elected, but successive governments continue to ignore this important constitutional provision, giving the president undue power to appoint these local officials, thereby subjecting them to serve at his/her discretion.
Election year is a nightmare for most of these local officials as they are threatened by the ruling establishment that they would be fired if any of them support opposition parties.
Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, speaking at a forum organized by a group of Legislative staffers at the Capitol Building recently, lamented that when she served as Senator of Bong County, local county officials including the Superintendent of Bong were warned by the then ruling Unity Party (UP) not to attend any of her political activities.
Since her allegation, observers and pundits have linked her "This is our time" statement she made after the CDC's victory in 2018 to the alleged treatment meted against her and other opposition figures by the UP Government.
The alleged treatment meted against the Nimba local officials comes at a time the George Weah-led government has been accused of purging Government officials that are not supporting the Weah and the ruling CDC from the Government.
Last month, the Minister of Post and Telecommunications, Cllr. Cooper Kruah was sacked by President Weah after he attended a rally by the main opposition Unity Party. After the event, Montserado County Representative Acarous Moses Gray took to his Facebook page and in a demeaning statement, branded Cllr. Kruah as a traitor and called for his immediate dismissal.
Days later, President Weah relieved the Postal Affairs Minister of his post.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Recently, Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Koijee, Secretary General of the ruling CDC, publicly accused senior officials within the government of engaging in double standards and working against the interests of the CDC government. Koijee specifically targeted Samuel Wlue, Minister of Transport after a customized vehicle license plate, FIXER 2, was issued to Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine, the vice standard bearer of the Collaborating Political Party (CPP), led by Mr. Alexander Cummings (FIXER 1).
He also claimed that Minister Wlue and other high-ranking officials within the CDC government have been participating in secret meetings with opposition politicians who promise to pay their salaries for the remaining months of President George Weah's first term if they support their bid for the presidency against President Weah.
Scramble for Nimba
Meanwhile, Nimba, the second most populous county in Liberia, has been crucial in every presidential election since 2005. In the 2017 presidential runoff election, the ruling CDC, with the backing of Senator Prince Y. Johnson, outmatched the Unity Party.
However, with Senator Johnson flipping support to former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, on whose tickets Johnson's political leader, Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung is now serving as Vice standard bearer, pundits believe that the battle for Nimba is at the advantage of the UP.
