Brumskine to pick Kanwea?

Presidential hopeful Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine of the opposition Liberty Party is expected to announce his running mate this weekend in the northern city of Sanniqulie, Nimba County, ahead of the October elections.

Speaking to The NewDawn via mobile phone on Wednesday, March 15, LP National Secretary General Jacob Smith said, the national executive council, which is the highest decision body of the party in the absence of national convention, will congregate in Nimba this Friday and Saturday, respectively, where Cllr. Brumskine will pick his running mate to contest for the presidency.

He narrated that following the announcement, both the standard bearer and vice standard bearer will tour all 15 political sub-divisions to interact with partisans. Mr. Smith pointed out that following the nationwide tour, the party will hold national convention in May to elect candidates for representative seats at which the convention will subsequently endorse Brumskine and his running mate to take the party to national elections.

However, there are speculations that Cllr. Brumskine is seriously eyeing new convert Harrison Kanwea, current Managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority as possible running mate.

When asked to name some possible candidates for the VP slot, Mr. Smith declined, but described Kanwea, who recently crossover from the governing Unity Party as a decent man that all political parties will want for a running mate.

Liberty Party insiders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said during a recent meeting held in Monrovia, Kanwea’s name emerged from amongst executives and gurus of the party.

Mr. Kanwea is believed to have a strong political base in Nimba County, particularly amongst the Gio tribal people, where Senator Prince Johnson, also a presidential candidate in this year’s election is regarded as a political ‘godfather’.

If Kanwea were to go as running mate, he could dilute the political dominance of Senator Johnson, who has won two senatorial elections in Nimba besides becoming kingmaker for the presidency during the2011 runoff presidential elections. It could be a ‘dogfight’ between the Liberty Party and Senator Johnson’s Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) party over the Nimba votes.

By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor-Editing by Jonathan Browne