A local pro-democracy group, Patriotic Consciousness Association of Liberia or PACA, accuses President George Manneh Weah and some of his officials of allegedly using government vehicles to campaign for the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change candidate in Montserrado County electoral district#13, John Weah.
Speaking to reporters in Monrovia on Monday, 19 November PACA executive director E. Frederick Baye, notes President Weah and his officials had criticized the government of former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of violating the code of conduct, which prohibits use of government vehicles among others for political campaign purposes.
The pro-democracy group maintains that while it supports President Weah’s Pro-Poor Agenda, equally so it strongly detests in the strongest terms the use of government properties to campaign for a party’s candidate.
PACA cautions that if care were not taken now, Liberia may have an imperial government where anybody who bears the name Weah, would get public office.It stresses that President Weah should realize electorate of district#13 are free to independently choose who they want as their representative, and not to bow to pressure coming from the President.
Mr. Baye explains the usage of government vehicles by President Weah, Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Kojii and others last Saturday, 18 November was a cleaver attempt by the government to intimidate opposition candidates and their supporters.
He demands an apology from President Weah and his officials for the action, adding that PACA is taken aback that since the bloody riot on Saturday between supporters of Candidate John Weah and opposition candidate Mrs. Cornelia Kruah-Togba of the Unity Party left dozens of people seriously wounded, the President is yet to condemn the violence.
Meanwhile, PACA frowns on the National Elections Commission (NEC) and the Liberia National Police (LNP) for not commenting on what transpired in electoral district #13.
It notes that the NEC, which has oversight of elections in Liberia, deliberately failed to assign police officers to the contesting candidates to ensure that they were restricted to their respective areas of demarcation, which did not happened thereby, resulting to bloody hostility.
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Mr. Baye expresses sympathy to individuals who sustained injuries as a direct result of the poor arrangement by the NEC, demanding compensation for the wounded from the bloody clash.
By Emmanuel Mondaye–Editing by Jonathan Browne
