Barely two months after Bong County Rep. Josiah Marvin Cole was accused of labeling some citizens of Wainsue as goats, several aggrieved youths and citizens have given the lawmaker one week ultimatum to apologize for the comment.He was accused based on an audio recording heard in the county in which he is said to have labeled some youths there as goats.
The aggrieved citizens told journalists at a press conference on Sunday, 1 June that Rep. Cole called them goats.The group making the claim are connected to an advocacy being taken against the lawmaker regarding a town hall project that he initiated ince 2017 but has come to a halt.
“As responsible and respectful citizens, we deem it necessary not to follow the same abusive route that Mr. Cole took but to come up with several counts that we want him to adhere to in one week,” Fumba Keita, the chairperson of the aggrieved youths tells journalists.Reading the counts, Mr. Keita says the youth group wants Rep. Cole to retract his abusive expression against them.
He says they want Mr. Cole to explain reasons for the failure to continue with the project, and also demand the lawmaker to give account for an alleged US$4,900 intended for the completion of the Wainsue Town Hall.
Our Bong County correspondent says some forty thousand United States Dollars was given to Rep. Cole last year by DEECO Oil and Gas Limited as payment of social contribution following an assessment of the discovery of oil in the central city of Gbarnga.Our correspondent adds that since the end of the assessment, Rep. Cole has not told the public that there is oil at the Jor-river banks in Gbarnga.
Our correspondent notes that there was a resolution signed by majority members of the Bong County Legislative Caucus about the usage of the money in Jorquelleh District #3, but it has allegedly been downplayed by Rep. Cole.
A copy of the resolution in possession of this paper mandated that US$4,900 be used from the money to complete the Wainsue Town hall construction.Since the signing of the resolution on 19 August 2019 at the Capitol in Monrovia, our correspondent says the project still remains in its 2017 status.
Additionally, a copy of a letter in possession of our correspondent from Internal Affairs Minister Varney Sirleaf mandates the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) to make a payment of the US$4,900 to the Bong Shopping Center as contractors of the Wainsue Town Hall Completion.When contacted to respond to the allegations levied against him, Rep. Cole refused to make a comment.
By Joseph Titus Yekeryanin Bong–Edited by Winston W. Parley
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