Reality Team rejects Movie Union new leadership
Some aggrieved members of the Liberia Movies Union or LIMU under the banner, “Reality Team of the Liberia Movie Union Election 2015” have seriously rejected the union’s new leadership to be inaugurated tomorrow, Saturday, July 18.
The aggrieved group has called for the postponement of the inauguration until its disenchantment is heard or addressed. The mobilization chair of the Reality Team Frank Bedell, who spoke to this paper yesterday, said, since the Liberia Movies Union’s controversial election was held on May 23, 2015, they have pursued all rightful channels in making show their disagreement is heard but all they received was “it happened already; your just put that behind your”, which he said, is not the right way in settling dispute. This paper has in its possession a letter dated May 26, 2015, addressed to the Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism, Madam Louise McMillan with Cc copy to Minister Lewis Brown, which reads: “We, the Reality Team of the Liberia Movie Union Election held on 23rd May 2015, write to present a number of gross discrepancies, irregularities and electoral malpractices that characterized the entire process of the election, among the point that claimed our attention for which we out rightly reject the result of said elections.”
Bedell further pointed out that after registering LIMU members in the various counties, the election commission downplayed call for democratizing the elections by reaching out to those, who registered to vote at least by sending a team of election officials to cover three counties by centrally locating a polling station in Bong County to cover Bong, Nimba and Lofa counties.
He continued that after displaying the sample ballot paper on which all candidates’ photographs were printed, it was disheartening that the final ballot sheet did not contain photos of candidates Aaron Weah, Jerbon and Sam Daniel. He added that with all the disenchantment and refusal of the aggrieved chair and the Deputy Minister to settle their disagreement, the group that was announced winners of the election went ahead without the consent of the current leadership to announce inauguration date. Bedell warns that if the disagreement is not heard and the inauguration goes ahead as scheduled, the Reality team will withdraw from the Liberia Movies Union. But when the Liberia Movie Union election commission was contacted via mobile phone, Mr. Varfee Holmes said the Ministry of Information and the Reality Team met after their communication was received and the group was told by the Ministry to drop its case due to lack of evidence. Mr. Holmes, who also admitted that the photos of some candidates were not printed on the final ballot sheet, said it was not a sufficient reason for the defeat of the Reality team. By Ben P. Wesee – Editing by Jonathan Browne
