Just before the cement on the tomb of Sen. Johnson can dry up, discussion about his replacement has begun with his wife being viewed as his rightful replacement.
Mrs. Amira Boyidee Johnson, wife of deceased Nimba County senator Prince Y. Johnson, has been hinted to contest for the Senatorial by-election in Nimba to replace her husband and continue his nine years tenure and political legacy.
Making the disclosure in an exclusive interview in Nimba County over the weekend, two-times defeated Presidential candidate and political leader of the Vision for Liberia Transformation Party, Dr. Jeremiah Z. Whapoe, said that it's about time that the people of Nimba jointly petitioned the late senator's wife to replace her husband.
According to him, Mrs. Johnson is the rightful person to replace her husband because she better understands his interpretation and vision for the people, adding that she has all it requires to end her husband's tenure because she is educated intelligent, and people-centered.
" There is a one-million-dollar question, and that is who will replace Senator Johnson in the Senate. From now till the vacancy is open, people will be making suggestions, but I want people to listen to the names that come out carefully. I am sitting down here and thinking, since behind every successful man is a strong wife, we should be able to support the late Senator Johnson's wife to finish Senator Johnson's terms. I want her to run. I can't tell here if she will contest but I want her to run" Dr. Whapoe stated.
According to him, there were many who called him, including elders, suggesting that he filled in the vacancy for Nimba, but he thinks Nimba should continue to show the love to Senator Johnson's wife that they have for him by petitioning her to contest and continue her husband's legacy.
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He described the by-election as a test of time, adding that it is time that the county come together and petition her to finish her husband's terms, and after that, anybody who wanted to contest could do so when she finished.
Commenting on the elders of Nimba County's recent decision to turn the traditional gable over to Nimba County District #5 Representative Samuel Kogar, Dr. Whapoe responded and said what was done was tradition and not an election. Therefore, it's not a yardstick for judgment.
" Giving the traditional gable over to Samuel Kogar doesn't mean or transpose the senatorial power to him. That was never an election that was rather a traditional ritual. And so, if Senator Johnson's wife wants to contest, Kogar should step aside. Samuel Kogar should step aside because the late senator's wife is his mother," he added. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah
