Monrovia — Police in Monrovia, backed by some employees of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), is investigating circumstances that led to the mysterious death of a 30-year-old woman in the Whea Town Community in St. Paul Bridge, outside Monrovia.
The community is located in the Borough of New Kru Town in district # 16, Montserrado County.
The victim, identified as one Caroline Koffa Toe, a cooked food seller, met her untimely demise when flood engulfed the community during the early morning hours of Saturday, September 3. She was a mother of three children
According to eyewitness account, the deceased mistakenly slipped and touched a guard wire of the LEC which was running through the flood while walking from her house.
She dropped instantly and was pronounced death few minutes after at a local clinic in the community.
The police and the LEC jointly launched an investigation and disconnected the entire community.
Residents of the community, mourners and sympathizers trooped to the scene when news of the incident broke out.
"Caroline was selling food in the community. She woke up above 5AM, prepared the food and carried it on the road. By 8:30AM, she came back. While walking in the water reaching to her house, she slipped, held the wire and the current struck her." Philipboye Merchant, brother-in-law of the victim stated.
Merchant is also the acting Chairman of the Elder Council, which comprises the chairpersons of the 26 communities in the Borough.
He denied that the running of unguarded electrical wire underneath the soil prompted the incident.
He disclosed that following the incident, a team from LEC rushed on the scene and disconnected the only transformer in the community, shutting down normal business and other activities for a while.
Delaying meters
Speaking further, Merchant alarmed that power theft may escalate in the community due to the failure of the LEC to release over 200 meters that have been allegedly paid for by the residents.
According to him, residents are getting impatient on a daily basis due to the situation.
He said citizens are being deprived the supply of electricity as compare to others due to the delay in the supply of their meters.
Disappointed in lawmaker
He, however, expressed disappointment over the failure of their Representative Dixon Seeboe to sympathize or identify with the family, he once closely associated with during the campaign period of the 2017 general and presidential elections.
He said though text messages were sent the lawmaker, he refused to show up.
According to him, the CDC lawmaker has not done enough to ensure that they are relocated from the flooded community by central government.
Merchant claimed that the community has also been allegedly abandoned by their lawmaker and national government.
He said for several decades now, residents of the community have complained of the devastating nature of the flood, but nothing has been done to relocate them to other areas.
"The Representative does not care. The person who died, he had his campaign headquarters to the woman house. He's insensitive to our plights. His interaction with the people-none of the 26 leaders will tell you that we can feel our lawmaker. I am disappointed in Honorable Seeboe."
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"Right now, we are not in election year. If it was election year, Honorable Seeboe and the others were going to come. Other hierarchies from the CDC came to sympathize with the family from the Borough, But we have not seen our lawmaker. He's not helping the entire 26 communities and he does not respect the community leaders."
Representative Seeboe failed to respond to an inquiry made by FrontPage Africa via telephone.
Merchant foresees more deaths if residents of the community are not relocated by government.
He claimed that the only school in the community remains threatened as a result of flood.
He added that students of the Bishop Lewis School System will not have the opportunity to commence classes on time as compare to students attending other institutions due to the intensity of the flood in the community this rainy season.
