Go see psychiatrist

-PYJ tells Nimba Lawmakers

Sen. Prince Johnson (in middle) with Representatives Tingban and Korgar

Ahead of 2017, politics in vote-rich Nimba County seems to be moving from bad to worse, and could perhaps become worst before it becomes better. Members of the Nimba Legislative Caucus, who are key players in the county’s politics continue to maintain a stormy relationship characterized by mistrust, accusations and counter-accusations with the caucus’ chair Senator Prince Y. Johnson at the center of the allegation trading.

Senator Johnson, who has organized a new political party that was certificated over the weekend by the National Elections Commission, recently accused some members of the caucus for masterminding his expulsion from the defunct National Union for Democratic Progress or NUDP and has therefore, vowed to make sure they do not get re-elected to the House of Representatives next year.

“They thought that by fighting me in my own party that I formed with my money was the end to my political life; thank God; I am a child of God and the blessing of God Almighty is always upon me. It is time now to take them from office because our new party will feature candidates against them and many of them will not come to the Capitol Building as lawmakers but, instead, as visitors and mere staffers,” PYJ vows.

Two members of the caucus Representatives Larry Younquoi and Richard MantenokeyTingban have reacted strongly, challenging the threat to vote them out of office in 2017.

Representative Tingban has called on chiefs and elders of Nimba to stop Sen. PYJ from stirring up trouble between citizens and their lawmakers. Speaking to The NewDawn in Nimba, he said in the past few months, lawmakers and their constituents had lived in peace, but with the resurface of Senator Johnson as chairman of the caucus, the senator is now creating trouble for Namibians.

In an angry tone, Representative Tingban disclosed that whenever there is no noise in the county, PYJ, dubbed ‘God-father of Nimba politics’ always creates problem for the citizens, which he said is not the character of a good leader.

Senator Johnson has denied being a troublemaker or creating tension among Nimbaians; rather, he said, members of the caucus who will not unite with him in his newly formed Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) party will be voted out.

According to him, since the 2011 elections, he has been working with his colleagues in the caucus, but some of them are not good leaders. He described electoral district# 8 Representative Larry P. Younquoi and electoral district#9 Representative Richard MantenokayTingban as bad lawmakers.

PYJ said he has right as head of his newly formed party to produce candidates to go against any sitting lawmakers in Nimba, noting that most of the current lawmakers from the county are not doing any development in their districts.

But Representative Younquoi has debunked the claim, saying Senator Johnson is not for development; instead, his mission is to promote trouble among Nimbaians. According to him, Sen. Johnson has spent 11years in the Liberian Senate and has not been able to carry out any development in Nimba, saying “Go in my district and see the development that is going on by my office as a Representative.”

The Nimba lawmaker said he would not give credence to somebody like Senator Johnson, who killed people, making reference to the Senator’s role during the Liberian Civil War as leader of the rebels Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia or INPFL, which broke away from then main rebel leader Charles Taylor.

“If any of the lawmakers from Nimba thinks that I`ve killed more people from Nimba than any warlords that person needs to see psychiatrist, because if I had killed more why will great and wonderful people of that great county always elect me and also support my presidential bid; this is total madness,” PYJ responded Monday at the Capitol Building.

According to him, since the certification of his party, many Nimba lawmakers have already developed political running stomach; and he has instructed his campaign manager in the county to buy two drums to hold the feces of both Representatives Larry Yonquoi and R. MatenokayTingban.

However, Rep. Yonquoi retorted that the people of Nimba elected PYJ two conservative times as senator and supported his bid for the presidency in 2011 out of ignorance because the man many refer to as ‘political godfather’ has caused more harm and killed people than any son of Nimba County.Editing by Jonathan Browne