Monrovia — A youthful Representative candidate of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) whose nomination documents were previously accepted by the National Elections Commission (NEC) is faced with a legal challenge over her qualifications to contest the ensuing presidential and legislative elections in Liberia.
It can be recalled that an eminent resident of Grand Cape Mount County district # 1 Hussein Seimavula filed a complaint objecting to the nomination of CDC candidate Bintu Massalay in keeping with the new election law of Liberia.
Seimavula is the Chairman of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) in the county, while Ms. Massalay is reported to be the daughter of businessman Idrissa Mansaray, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Hard Works Mining Company located in Mano River Congo, Grand Cape Mount County.
Seimavula filed a three-count petition to the NEC claiming that Representative candidate Massalay has not reached the required constitutional age to contest the elections, thereby violating Article 30 A of the 1986 Liberian Constitution.
Article 30 A of the 1986 Constitution states that: "Citizens of Liberia who meet the following qualifications are eligible to become members of the Legislature. a. for the Senate, have attained the age of 30 years and for the House of Representatives, have attained the age of 25 years."
He also complained that Ms. Massalay allegedly obtained a Sierra Leonean voting card and illegally changed her name from Bintu Mansaray to Bintu Massalay to be a part of the process.
Last week, final arguments in the hearing were held and ruling suspended by the NEC Hearing Officer Muana Ville.
Conflicting records
However, FrontPageAfrica managed to obtain multiple documents, including the 2017 Voter Registration (VR) card of Ms. Massalay.
The card clearly shows that she was 18 years (born February 24, 2000) and registered at the center bearing the code: 12007. The VR ID number assigned to her at the time was 726035127. She was a resident of Brewerville in district # 17, Montserrado County.
Purported documents obtained from the Cuttington University, where she is reported to be studying Public Administration and Management clearly show that she was born on February 24, 2000 and February 24, 1997 respectively.
NEC acceptance
Early April this year, Ms. Massalay obtained a voter registration card from one of the centers where she is domiciled to participate in the ensuing elections.
The acquiring of a VR card is one of the requirements for the nomination of a candidate to contest the elections.
Ms. Massalay was certificated and subsequently nominated by the CDC to contest for the Representative seat of electoral district # 1 in Grand Cape Mount County.
Minutes after receiving her nomination paper, Ms. Massalay took to her official Facebook page to throw jibes at her political opponents, who were imploring strategies to prevent her from contesting the elections.
"At first, they told us we would not be nominated; that we would be denied participation in these elections. What's now clear is that, we're appearing on the ballots comes October 10,2023 with a powerful vision of genuine all-inclusive CHANGE on the slogan: " We're Not Too Young To Lead".
The naysayers and doubting Thomases have got all rights to discredit our candidacy, for we know it's not easy in situations of undeniable power shifting."
She also held an appreciation program in the district for being selected to contest on the CDC ticket.
Despite receiving her nomination paper from the NEC on July 9, Ms. Massalay has not been fully cleared to contest the elections due to the ongoing legal case.
She has been subjected to threats of intimidations from her arch-rivals since she accepted a petition from some citizens of district 1 in Grand Cape Mount County to contest the elections.
The Issues
Ms. Massalay is seeking to unseat the district current Representative Bob Sheriff.
Representative Sheriff, who previously worked at the United Commodities Incorporated (UCI), was supported by Ms' Bintu's father, Idrissa Mansaray to contest the elections in 2017.
However, the pair fell apart due to numerous differences.
Since then, Representative Sheriff and the man who immensely contributed to his ascendancy at the National Legislature have not seen eye-to-eye.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
As a result of the differences, elders and others within the district reportedly convinced Mr. Mansaray to field a candidate against his former best friend and ally to remove him from power for his alleged show of ingratitude.
Following months of discussions, Ms. Bintu Massalay was selected and petitioned to contest the elections.
It remains unclear whether or not her candidacy would be accepted by the NEC as a result of the legal suit filed against her qualifications.
Her hope of being number four on the ballot paper may not be actualized her lawyers representing her legal interest failed to proffer strong arguments to win the case.
Meanwhile, accusing fingers are being pointed at the incumbent lawmaker Bob Sheriff, Grand Cape Mount County Senator Simeon Taylor and Senatorial candidate Hanson Kiazolu of being the masterminds behind the legal proceeding filed against Ms. Massalay.
But the accused are yet to respond to the accusation.
