Bong to produce presidential candidate

Amidst the growing number of presidential aspirants in the 2017 elections, the people of Bong County have announced they would produce a presidential hopeful for the county.

Addressing hundreds of Bong County citizens in Monrovia and its environs on 1st November during a mass meeting held in Gobarchop Community, Paynesville outside Monrovia, the Chairperson of the Bong County Citizen Union, Othello F. Dolo, informed his kinsmen consultations are being held with key stakeholders from the county, some of whom have expressed desire to contest for the Presidency.

Dolo, who declined to mention names when asked by the citizens, said he and other officials of the union would prove adequate detail in their next meeting scheduledin BongCounty. He told the gathering the time has come for the people of Bong to select a presidential candidate, which will enable them to speak with one voice during the pending elections.

He further disclosed that a group of citizens of the county, including officials of the union recently visited several counties aimed at sharing the information with their fellow compatriots about their intention to put forth a candidate to contest for the presidency.

He assured the citizens that everything will be done to ensure similar visitation is made to other parts of the country where citizens of Bong reside to inform them of the decision to put forth a presidential candidate.

Citizens of the county, who were in attendance at the meeting expressed gratitude to the leadership of the BCCU and pledged full cooperation, adding that they themselves will also spread the message to fellow kinsmen in towns, villages and communities across Liberia.

The citizens said since Bong County produced the candidacy of the late William Gabriel Kpoleh in the 1985 general and presidential elections rigged by slain President Samuel Kanyon Doe, the county has not produced anyone again to take up the torchbearer of the Liberian Presidency.

The late Gabriel Kpoleh, a school teacher, braved the storm in1985 in the quest for multiparty democracy in Liberia and founded the Liberian Unification Party or LUP. He vied for the Presidency against military dictator Samuel Doe during the 85elections, but lost and was subsequently killed in the bloody civil war here.

By Emmanuel Mondaye-Editing by Jonathan Browne