Monrovia — There are reports that five commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC) are currently undergoing investigation for their involvement in the recent disturbances that negatively affected the operations of the Commission, an Executive Mansion source hinted. Some staffers of the NEC recently staged several days of protest and disrupted the smooth operations of the Commission. Their remonstrations were in demand of additional benefits.
The report says that the commissioners in question provided misinformation to the staff, and it led to the protest intended for the selfish gains of those commissioners, thus undermining the credibility of the Electoral Management Body
The source further named two of the five commissioners, including Co-chairperson P. Teplah Reeves and IT Commissioner Floyd Oxley Sayor. The commissioners are said to be the masterminds behind the protest.
"They were the ones lying and giving instructions to the protesters to demand the dismissal of the NEC Chairperson and others," the source said. "In fact, most of those who protested were personal staffers in the offices of these five commissioners," an NEC source added.
The report further says that some of the commissioners could be dismissed by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai if the investigation is proven to be true. "Also, some of those junior level staffers, who took part in the protest, too, risk dismissal from the Commission for their unbecoming behaviors during the protests," the source further stated.
Some staffers who took part in the protest are blaming the five commissioners for misleading them and at the same time putting their individual jobs at risk and also the reputation of the Commission. "They were misled and misinformed that the money which was left over after the 2023 Presidential Election, should have been divided among staffers of the Commission and that the money was still being held by the NEC Chairperson, Madam Davidetta Browne-Lansanah."
Some staffers disclosed, under condition of anonymity, that their colleagues who were misled to protest did so knowing that the commissioners who pushed them, have questionable characters and have always been at the center of confusion at the Commission.
Some of the protesters used this medium to appeal to their "mother", Chairperson Davidetta Browne-Lansanah, to forgive them as they were misled by her fellow commissioners.
One of the protesters -- name withheld -- disclosed that the commissioners involved are again telling them to go out and protest to make the Commission ungovernable.
Finance Ministry's Intervention
Meanwhile, a Finance Ministry official, who is not clothed with the authority to speak to the media, disclosed that the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has instructed the NEC to transfer all funds to the government's consolidated account. "The amount in question has officially been reported as revenue for the people of Liberia. For the Commission to access this amount requires going through the budget process," this Finance Ministry official said. It is said that Chairperson Browne-Lansanah turned over US$8 million back to the government.
There are also reports that the government would have resolved this matter to some extent, but the behavior of the NEC staff undermined that effort. "The NEC that should be seen as a political bridge between peace and conflict is now degenerating into a conflict institution perpetually," a source at the Commission said.
One of the five commissioners, who are said to have fueled the protest, Sayor, is reported to have recently been given a daily subsistence allowance and fuel to travel to Grand Gedeh County to introduce the new team of staffers (Magistrate, Assistant Magistrate and Logistic Officer) to local and traditional leaders and other electoral stakeholders in the county. He pocketed the money and did not show up for the meeting in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. "He was selected to represent the Commission because he has oversight responsibility for Grand Gedeh as per his responsibility stated in the New Elections Law of Liberia. He embarrassed the Commission in that instance, and only the staffers had to conduct the meeting and introduce themselves to the local community officials," our NEC source stated.
Some of Floyd's Dealings
In the aftermath of Montserrado County's Electoral District No. 15 by-election that was heavily contested between Ms. Telia Urey and Abu Kamara in 2019, the chief election dispute hearing officer, Cllr. Muana S. Ville, gave the reason why he ruled for a rerun at the quarantined polling centers in Montserrado Electoral District #15. Ville declared that Sayor, who was the Data Center Coordinator, before being made Commissioner following that fracas, compromised the integrity of the District #15 polls by failing to obey instructions from his immediate boss, to quarantine ballots from the polling places where irregularities were said to have occurred and withhold the inclusion of votes from those areas from the final tally, until all such complaints had been addressed.
Cllr. Ville explained: "The hearing officers, having asked witness Floyd Oxley Sayor to state the date he began the counting upon the close of the voting centers, he did not. Additionally, the hearing officers were informed by witness Sayor that he disobeyed the order of his immediate boss, Emma Togba, when he was told to quarantine the polling centers said to have had some problems as claimed by Telia Urey and her campaign team."
The hearing officer added, "Knowing that Emma Togba is his immediate boss at the NEC and that witness Floyd Sayor had no reason to have heard from the Board of Commissioners (BOC) first before taking an immediate action in order to contain any future problem for the electoral process, he was wrong and, for this reason, we hereby order a rerun for the six precinct centers from which the 20 polling places were created," he declared. Sayor was accused of giving undue favor to Kamara, who was running on the ruling party's ticket. Kamara was eventually declared the winner of the by-election.
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In 2017, two years before the 2019 incident, Commissioner Sayor was made to appear before the court as an expert witness in the case "Liberty Party versus The National Elections Commission".
Not long after the 2019 episode, Sayor was appointed one of the NEC's commissioners by former President George Manneh Weah. In an attempt to question the nominee's integrity at NEC, judging from his past records, Senator Abraham Darius Dillon (Liberty Party) asked the nominee whether he had ever been investigated by the NEC for electoral malpractices.
New Board of Commissioners in 2027
President Joseph Nyuma Boakai must exercise caution at the highest level when selecting the next Board of Commissioners of the NEC in 2027. The selection of the BOC in 2027 will set the agenda for the advancement of democracy in Liberia through the holding of credible elections. Liberian law requires that the President appoints member of the Board of Commissioners with confirmation by the Liberian Senate. There are talks that there should be electoral reforms to address the tenure of commissioners, possibly from seven to five years, and also reduce the number of commissioners to five persons.
