There is a heightened fever pitch in Nimba County in anticipation of the Senatorial by-election, concerning who will succeed the late Senator Prince Y. Johnson.
While the National Election Commission is yet to publish the names of the candidates in the race for the seat, few names have surfaced in the county, including Rep. Samuel G. Kogar, former Nimba Supt. Edith Gongloe Weh, former Nimba Inspector Mark Gblinwon and former Nimba Representative, Atty. Garrison D. Yealue.
But, the race is likely to be between Rep. Samuel Kogar and former Nimba Superintendent Edith Gongloe Weh, both of whom have contested senatorial elections in Nimba and lost.
Both Kogar and Weh are the most talked about aspirants in the pending by-election, but the debate is said to be taking ethnic trend, with the Dan/Gio supporting the Kogar, while the Mano is supporting the Edith Weh.
On the local radio stations in Nimba, nearly all the callers from the predominantly Mano communities expressed support for Edith, which many believe that the election will be carried on based on ethnicity.
On Saturday, March 8, 2025, the citizens of Nimba County District #5, including some of the defeated representative candidates in the 2023 election, endorsed Rep. Samuel Kogar for the vacant senatorial seat in a well-attended ceremony in Yao Gbloulay, near Buutuo.
At the ceremony, Rep. Samuel Kogar in his remarks, asked the citizens not to vote for Edith Weh, because the vacancy left by Senator Johnson can only be occupied by a man, not a woman.
He said, if a Zoe died, especially as a man, his replacement can only be a man, not a woman.
Kogar, whose mother is Mano, said even in the Mano settlement, nobody will allow a female to replace a male Zoe, adding, "I am going to the Mano settlements to inform the people."
His statement sparked tension within the county, especially among supporters of Weh, who argued that the statement by Kogar is an affront to all women.
Rep. Samuel Kagor, a cousin to the late Senator Johnson, is widely considered as successor to Johnson because of the many traditional theatrics performed during the late senator's funeral procession in January.
At a certain point, he jumped over Senator Johnson's body four times, a ritual that can only be performed by close relatives or his sons.
The jumping over means in the Gio/Dan tradition that the person involved is claiming the attributes of the deceased. For example, if the deceased was a warrior, the person jumping over his or her body would therefore lay claim to the power the person possessed.
Rep. Kogar received an endorsement from his colleagues in the 55th Legislative Caucus of Nimba and other local officials in a secret ceremony on Vice President Jeremiah Koung's farm.
Madam Edith Weh, since her last debate during the 2020 special senatorial election, where the result was heavily contested in the court, she vanished from public view and returned ahead of the 2023 presidential elections to support the presidential campaign of her brother, Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe.
She campaigned heavily against the Unity Party in the first round in favor of her brother and later, in the second round, she endorsed the CDC. She again left for the USA after CDC was defeated and returned during the funeral of Senator Johnson.
She and her team have been on a secret movement across Nimba, something supporters described as an acquaintance visit to the voters, especially in areas where her popularity is high.
In the 2020 special senatorial election, Madame Weh, who came second to Jeremiah Koung, got most of the votes in the Mano settlement, where she really focused her campaign, but the votes from the borderline with Ivory Coast overshadowed every count, giving Koung a landslide win.
Mark Gblinwon, a former County Inspector of Nimba is said to be new, because this is his first time to contest an election. With his experience as County Inspector of Nimba, through which he became known among the citizens, many believe that he stands a chance.
Recently, Gblinwon was endorsed by the newly-formed political movement of Rep. Musa Bility, the Citizens Movement for Change, to contest on the party ticket.
Atty. Garrison D. Yealue is one of the aspirants whose movement is also not well publicized; yet his supporters consider him to be the best because he can be vocal and, with his legal background, they think he is the best candidate to push forward the Nimba agenda.
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Atty. Yealue served as representative for Nimba County District #4 and lost to Gunpul Kargon in the 2017 election. Despite that, he is always in politics and was one of the main campaigners for the CDC party in the 2023 election.
When it comes to senatorial elections in Nimba, many argue that two seats should be occupied by the two main ethnic groups in Nimba: the Dan and the Mano.
In this election, the argument now is that since Nyan Tuayen came from a Mano background, this contested seat should be awarded to a member of the Gio/Dan tribe.
"From 2012 to 2020, both Senator Johnson and Thomas Grupee were from the Dan ethnic group, so why should we decide this now," a caller on a local radio station asked.
In the last by-election, the old tradition of dividing the seats among the two main ethnic groups was realized when Nyan Tuayen was elected massively by Nambians to replace Koung.
