Tension brews in Gbarga over new Mayor

Serious dissatisfaction is said to be brewing among residents of Gbarnga, Bong County following the appointment of a new Mayor for the city. News that Bong County Senator Jewel Howard Taylor’s political advisor Marvin Cole has been appointed as Mayor of Gbarnga City saw many citizens expressing anger on grounds that he has been very disrespectful to the leadership of the county.

According to angry residents, Mr. Cole is allegedly on record for insulting the county’s leadership on several occasions. Some senior officials of Bong have already started saying Marvin Cole will find it difficult to succeed due to his disrespectful deportment.

Citizens calling on community radio stations say they believe strongly that Senator Taylor’s Political Advisor cannot do the job of City Mayor, questioning his morality and maturity. It is widely believed the senator lobbied with the Presidency to see her staff appointed to head the Gbarnga City Council.

Marvin Cole is now taking over from long-time Mayor Esther Warbey, who is in India for the second time for medical treatment after her involvement in a tragic motor accident with Bong County Superintendent Selena Polson Mappy and a local journalist .

She sustained serious leg injury and was getting decay after several delay in take her out of the country. Ex-mayor Warbey returned after treatment in India about two years ago, but had to go back when the condition of her leg appeared to have been deteriorating.

Some citizens believe the dismissal of Madam Warbey while she is out of the country was not proper on grounds that she got injured while on an official duty of the county, and should have been given the opportunity to return before her removal.

By Papa Morris from Bong-Editing by Jonathan Browne