Monrovia — A town chief in Porkpa District in Grand Cape Mount County has been severely brutalized by unknown persons when the county's Senator Simeon Taylor and others stormed several voters' registration centers in the area.
The incident occurred in Juejuah Town during the late evening hours of Sunday, April 2, when Senator Taylor, accompanied by Grand Cape Mount district #1 Representative Bob Sheriff and senatorial aspirant Hanson Kiazolu, visited the district following reports of Sierra Leonean nationals allegedly crossing over to Liberia to participate in the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise. Juejuah Town is located in Mano River Congo in Porkpa District.
Senator Taylor is supporting Representative Sheriff and Kiazolu, who are contesting the ensuing October 2023 presidential and legislative elections. Several rounds were reportedly fired by unknown persons, instilling fear in the locals, and the properties of others were destroyed.
The town chief who was severely flogged during the incident was Sesay Kubamuah. He is currently seeking medical attention at a local clinic in Bamballah.
Speaking in an interview with FrontPage Africa on Monday, April 3, the victim pointed out that he was severely beaten when supporters of Senator Taylor and his colleagues accused him of influencing Sierra Leoneans to cross over to Liberia to take part in the process when they visited the Juejuah Public School, which is housing a voter registration center.
He said though he denied the accusation, the unknown men who travelled along with Senator Taylor began to assault him in the presence of the lawmaker and his colleagues.
"We were at the registration center sitting down yesterday, and we saw about 15 motorbikes and four cars passing, and they stopped. I saw Senator Taylor, Bob Sheriff, and Hanson Kiazolu. While sitting down, they started accusing me that I am the one who can bring people from across to come and register. I told them that I just came to sit down with the people here, and they said I was lying."
"One of them came and put a slap on my face. I asked 'what did I do to you?' Other people joined the man, and they started beating me. Blood started draining down my mouth and nose. Senator Simeon Taylor only told his people to leave me when the blood was wasting all over me."
Kubamuah added that the unknown perpetrators immediately ceased from assaulting him after they were ordered by Senator Taylor to do so.
A man identified as the Town Chief of Juejuah Town in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia, has accused Senator Simeon Taylor and his supporters of assaulting him at a voter registration center. According to the Town Chief, the Senator and his supporters attacked him because he refused to bring people to register at the center. As a result of the incident, the Town Chief claimed that he continues to feel pains in his stomach, mouth, back, and other parts of his body.
In response to the alleged assault, the Town Chief has stated that he will file an official complaint to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Although the alleged act was committed in the presence of some Liberia National Police officers, the Town Chief believes that an official complaint will lead to justice being served.
Eyewitnesses to the incident have also reported that Senator Taylor and his supporters were intimidating workers at the voter registration center. Richard M. Sheriff, an eyewitness to the incident, disclosed that the Senator and his supporters had gone to the registration center in Juejuah Town to ascertain the total number of citizens that had been registered so far at the center.
The Registrar at the center, identified as one Princess Norman, requested that Senator Taylor identify himself and clearly display his accreditation for the ongoing exercise. The NEC worker's response to the Senator prompted mixed feelings among his supporters who in turn responded negatively.
Sheriff claimed that a Representative aspirant of electoral district #1 in Grand Cape Mount was also allegedly chased for undisclosed reasons by the unknown men who came along with Senator Taylor at the center. He emphasized that Senator Taylor was also spotted being accompanied by LNP officers aboard their assigned vehicle while chasing aspirant Bendu Mansaray.
Bendu is the daughter of a Liberian businessman Idrissa Mansaray operating the Hard Works Mining Company in Mano River Congo. Sheriff claimed that when the police and Simeon Taylor were going, the fuel finished from the police car and so, they parked it in front of Bendu. Honorable Simeon Taylor, Bob Sheriff, and Hanson Kiazolu came out and said they wanted to speak with the girl and she should get down. But she refused, and so her driver managed to pass in front of them on the other side.
The group went to the police station in Tienii and demanded that the police put Bendu outside. But the police refused. They went to another town and came back to Mano River Congo around 10 to 11PM to meet the Township Commissioner on grounds that Sierra Leoneans were registering to vote.
Firing
Sheriff pointed out that the refusal of the commissioner to provide the requisite information to Senator Taylor and his colleagues prompted the firing by unknown men.
"The Township Commissioner made him understand that 'I am not clothed with the authority to give you any statistics as it relates to NEC. If you want to know, you can go check NEC or wait for the morning hours to ask NEC workers at the centers.' Warning shots were fired, and everybody in the town was going hectic skeptic as a result of the firing last night."
Seeking intervention
Sheriff observed that electoral violence and unrest were contributing factors that led to the 14-year brutal civil conflict in Liberia.
He used the occasion to call on the government to intervene in the situation before it escalates to chaos and the loss of lives and properties.
Taylor's response
When contacted via telephone, Senator Taylor admitted that he and his colleagues had gone to the county to visit various registration centers over reports that Sierra Leoneans were allegedly crossing over to Liberia to participate in the BVR exercise.
He said the touring of the various centers was intended to ascertain the facts surrounding these reports.
"I am a peaceful person; I am not going for election. There have been lots of reports that Sierra Leoneans are coming here to register, and eight of them were arrested by Immigration. Is this not alarming? I have oversight responsibility over the county, and so I went to a few centers to find out what's happening."
He reported that the influx of more registered voters at some of the centers has already corroborated reports that foreigners are trooping in to participate in the process.
"We reached Juejuah center. It was about 1610 people registered there. While coming, the people in Juejuah attacked my securities, and they entered into a fight. When I heard the noise, I went there and calmed the situation, and we left."
Senator Taylor claimed that while leaving the area, aspirant Mansaray allegedly "broke the checkpoint" that was set up by the police.
He said the situation led to the police raising suspicion of her alleged attitude, and a chase was made after her and her driver.
"I went there and told her that when she is in a car, she shouldn't cut the checkpoint rope because it will appear like she is hiding something. That's what prompted the police to chase after her car, and that was how the police came to Tenii."
Senator Taylor claimed that he later engaged the Township Commissioner on the suspicion.
Minutes later, he added that some "kamajor boys" started speaking a foreign language and threw stones at him and his colleagues upon their return to Mano River Congo.
"They started throwing stones at the cars at night. When we were outside, they started shooting, and we went to the Commissioner's place and sat down there. Later on, they left. The police ran away with their car but came back later to protect us. We called for a backup team, but the team didn't come. We stayed there until 1 AM and went to Bamballah, where we stayed until 4 AM and left this morning."
Senator Taylor denied that his security guards fired live rounds to intimidate NEC workers and residents of the town.
Oversight Responsibility
"I have oversight over that county by the constitution. I didn't seize their equipment; I only asked them to give me the figure of those who have registered in that center. Was it a bad thing? Is it against the law to do that? They came to attack us."
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He said NEC workers will appear to have an ulterior motive if they continue to shun or deny people access to public information.
Senator Taylor said foreigners should not obtain voters registration cards in Liberia.
What is Taylor's Interest?
Fear has reportedly gripped residents of Porkpa district as a result of the latest incident.
They are compelled to shut down their businesses earlier or go about their regular routines, especially during the evening hours, for fear of being attacked by their perceived political opponents.
Residents are questioning the rationale behind the decision taken by Senator Taylor to storm various voters' registration centers in the county, along with his colleagues who are also contesting, to "instill fear and intimidate" perceived political opponents and NEC workers.
His motive to carry a barrage of unknown persons, backed by armed police officers, even though he is not contesting in the ensuing senatorial elections, continues to raise eyebrows in many quarters.
They wondered why Senator Taylor didn't file a formal complaint to the National Elections Commission (NEC) or the plenary of the Liberian Senate to launch a probe but rather chose to take along his colleagues and unknown persons to raise fears in the citizens.
However, the long-standing rift between Senator Taylor and businessman Mansaray, whose daughter is also contesting the elections, may be a contributing factor to the lawmaker's action.
Senator Taylor was also engaged in mining in the same region prior to his ascendancy at the National Legislature.
Political tension and violence in Grand Cape Mount are becoming the order of the day during the electioneering period in Liberia.
Some time ago, several persons were severely injured and properties destroyed when political rival groups attacked each other during the special mid-term senatorial election in 2020.
Despite this, no punitive measures have been taken by the government, through state security actors, to serve as deterrence to would-be perpetrators.
