What had earlier been planned as a solemn occasion at the Capitol to bid farewell to Montserrado County District#15 fallen Representative Adolph A. Lawrence suddenly turned contest ground when the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and the opposition Liberty Party (LP) clashed for control of the ceremony.
It all started here Thursday, 25th April when supporters of the ruling CDC along
with their Chairman Mulbah K. Morlu entered the rotunda of the Capitol, chanting party slogans, but were asked out immediately by the Sergeant-At-Arms of the House of Representatives, Gen. Martin Johnson due to noise.
Few minutes later, the Chairman of the opposition Liberty Party, Senator
Steve Zargo arrived with some partisans to enter the rotunda of the Capitol, but they were similarly stopped by security at the entrance, who informed the LP Chairman that he may enter but his supporters should stay outside.
But the LP supporters insisted on entering the rotunda, a demand their counterparts from the CDC rejected on grounds that since they (CDCians) were denied entry, the LP supporters should not be granted access thus, beginning a showdown, which stalled a state funeral that had been planned by the House of Representatives.
Partisans and supporters of the rival parties then tussled for supremacy with the CDC succeeding in pushing the LP Chairman, Senator Zargo and
supporters as far as the main gate of the Capitol.
The widow of the fallen lawmaker, Grand Bassa County Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence was left with no alternative, but immediately instructed that her husband’s body be instead, taken to his district in Logan Town, a Monrovia suburb, effectively canceling the funeral at the Capitol.
The body was the taken away by men attired in T-shirts of multiple colors. The situation left sympathizers, friends and family members, including dignitaries, who have gone to pay respect to the fallen lawmaker in a state of confusion.
When this paper caught up with Bomi County District #1 Representative
Edwin M. Snowe, Jr., he describes the scene as “embarrassing.”
The late Rep. Adolph Lawrence died on March 25, 2019 in a car crash along the Robertsfield highway, returning from celebrating his 50th birthday in Buchanan, Grand Bassa , birthplace of his widow, Sen. Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence.Meanwhile, a staffer in the office of River Cess County Representative T. Melvin Cephas, was bitten allegedly by supporters of the CDC.
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According to Cephas, who is the Administrative Assistant in the Office of Rep. Byron Zahnwer, after the body left the Capitol he and some workmates from the Capitol were discussing the happenings there yesterday when he made the statement that the ground of the Capitol was not CDC headquarters thus, provoking some CDCians who attacked and beat him up.
Melvin explains that if the CDCians wanted body to fight over or to take to their
party headquarters, they should have asked the widow of the late Representative Lawrence to give them a day.
The late Representative Adolph A. Lawrence was an estranged member of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change.President George Manneh Weah led an array of officials Tuesday to the Capitol and signed the Book of Condolence.
By Bridgett Milton–Editing by Jonathan Browne
