Monrovia — Tarnue Kollie, in his early 30s, has been arrested by police in Lofa County for allegedly collecting 82 voter cards from residents of Wolozizi Town, a community bordering Liberia and Guinea, under false pretenses of educating them about the voting process.
According to Kollie, he claims to have been lured into this act by a friend named Abdulah Dorleh, who is purportedly a supporter of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the County. Dorleh asked Kollie to accompany him to a nearby town to engage with residents on the subject of voting.
Kollie stated, "On Friday, Abdulah called me and asked me to take him to the town. I inquired about the purpose of our visit, and he said he wanted to talk to the people because they didn't vote for us in the first round."
"As his friend, I agreed, but I warned him that people have their own choices, and those individuals brought in from Guinea were brought in by someone else. After we arrived in the town, I spoke with the local elders, and during that meeting, Abdulah asked people to entrust him with their voter cards for safekeeping. However, it later became apparent that his motive was to retain these cards until after the second-round elections."
Before agreeing to what Abdulah asked, Kollie mentioned that he had a private conversation with him to confirm his intentions. He didn't want to find himself in an embarrassing situation, considering that the townsfolk knew him well.
"Because of me, people agreed, believing they would get their cards back since I was involved. Abdulah offered each cardholder 500 Guinean Francs, which is equivalent to LD$1,000.00."
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"We recorded the names of the 82 people whose cards we collected. After my return, I shared the story with a friend who informed me that people were buying voter cards. Hearing this, I went home and also explained the situation to my wife and others who had heard a similar story."
"Upon learning of this, I called Abdulah and asked him if the story was true. A few hours later, the story spread throughout the town, and an angry crowd started looking for me. I contacted him, requesting that he return the people's cards in exchange for their money. His response to me was to run and leave the area until after two weeks, when the elections would be over."
Shocked by what he had heard from Abdulah, Kollie tried to gather more evidence. According to him, he went to Abdulah's house, where his friend hired a motorcycle rider and provided Kollie with a helmet and a jacket to disguise himself and leave Gbogezah as early as 5:00 AM.
"On our way, I decided not to go to Monrovia, as he had suggested, because my family was left behind. I stopped in Voinjama and decided to report the case to the police, as I had been informed that people were pressuring my family."
