Civil Society coordinator supports tribal politics
The Chairman of the Bong Citizens Union, George Johnson has rejected statements that the current efforts by some lawmakers, especially from Bong and Margibi Counties, to produce a Kpelle Presidential Candidate are divisive. Mr. Johnson said he did not see such move as tribal politics, but an effort for the Kpelle People of Liberia to ascend to the presidency for the first time in the country’s history.
Mr. Johnson wondered why people would continue to argue against such vision as divisive when the people of Lofa County in 2005 and 2011 holistically voted for the Unity Party on grounds that the county was the party’s origin. He noted that the former Liberia Action Party (LAP) originated from Nimba, while the Liberty Party (LP) has its roots in Grand Bassa County.
George Johnson, also the Regional Coordinator of the National Civil Society Council for Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties expressed the belief that nothing was wrong with the vision by citizens of Bong and Margibi Counties, most especially their lawmakers, but called for the inclusion of all Liberian languages in the country for such endeavor to succeed.
According to the Bong Citizens Union Chairman, nothing was wrong when a group of Kpelle people decide to form a political party with the support of other tribes.
Debates have continued since a group of lawmakers and prominent citizens from Bong and Margibi Counties voiced out their desire to campaign in producing a Kpelle President in 2017.
Many have termed the drive as divisive, but others are of the opinion that the Kpelle people have voted for other tribes, and that it was their time to lead the nation. The Kpelle Tribe is the largest ethnic group in Liberia, and is yet to produce a President since the formation of the nation.
