By Lewis S. Teh
Unity Party Standard Bearer, former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has come under sharp criticism from the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change for demanding a recount of votes cast in the recently held Senatorial By-election in Lofa County that the UP lost.
The former government UP narrowly lost the senatorial election to Senator-Elect, Cllr. Joseph K. Jallah, who contested as an Independent Candidate but endorsed by the ruling CDC.
The deputy scribe of the CDC Youth League Hassan Newland said Ambassador Boakai’s call for a recount is an act of desperation for power fueled by hatred for the people of Lofa particularly, members of the Gbandi tribe that Senator-elect Jallah hails from.
“Ladies and Gentlemen: the unsubstantiated claim of election malpractices by former Vice President before and during the 2022 Lofa by-election is a classic show of hate for the courageous and cultural people of Lofa particularly, the Gbandi whose son has unquestionably won the election”, Mr, Newland said in a news conference held at the CDC headquarters in Congo Town.
According to him, the former Vice President’s call is a clear display of extreme desperation for state power, and a complete deception to the people of Lofa.
He recalled that the former Vice President initially made threatening statements ahead of the by-election, that a denial of the Unity Party that was in court to field a candidate in the poll would have led the country to chaos.Â
Newland narrates that in the last four years, the governing CDC has been defeated in several elections, including the two major senatorial elections in Montserrado County, which were won by the opposition in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
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He said despite President Weah campaigning for candidates, who lost said elections, yet the CDC congratulated the opposition as required by good democratic tenets.
“The Youth League sees the Unity Party’s statement as a deception, considering the fact that it praised the very Elections Commission when the candidate of the opposition was declared winner in Montserrado twice
Former Vice President Boakai’s election malpractices claim has unclothed his desperation for power and disrespect for the mandate of the resilient people of Lofa.”
He Amb. Boakai and the UP should muster courage to stop threatening the country’s fledgling peace and democracy and sowing seeds of discord among the great sons and daughters of Lofa County.
However, the CDC Youth League has extolled the leader of the opposition Alternative National Congress and lone leader of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, for congratulating Senator-election, Joseph Jallah and extolling the people of Lofa for exercising high level of maturity in the senatorial by-election.
Newland noted that Mr. Cummings exhibited high degree of
Maturity by congratulating the winner of the polls despite the fact that the ANC/CPP did not field a candidate in Lofa.
He said the CDC is not surprised that divisiveness of former VP Boakai is treading a conflict-ridden path that clearly portrays his true nature.
He also accused Boakai of undermining former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf whom he served as Vice President for 12 years and being responsible for the disintegration of the CPP that the public had perceived could be a competitive arrangement against the CDC.Â
Having a competitive arrangement is what the CDC has always fought for years, which has led many of our cadres to prison and martyrdom under the failed Unity Party regime, the CDC deputy scribe added.
He called on the international community to watch statements coming from the former Vice President, noting that VP Boakai’s quest for power is valued above the peace of the State, cautioning that such uncontrollable desire for power is a creeping threat, as Liberia moves toward general and presidential elections in 2023. Editing by Jonathan Browne
