In the wake of the growing political tension in Gbarpolu County after the conduct of December 8 mid-term Senatorial election, Bong County’s district #6 Representative, Moima Briggs Mensah, is calling on the Traditional Council of Gbarpolu and authorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to stop the intimidation against the lone independent female candidate.
Since the conduct of the December 8 senatorial election, there has been serious tension in certain parts of Gbarpolu, where it has been reported that a town chief in one of the towns seized ballot boxes during election day and dumped them in water. It has also been reported that the lone female candidate who contested and was reportedly in the lead against the governing Coalition for Democratic (CDC) candidate has gone missing due to a reported traditional performance during the day time.
According to report from Gbarpolu, police, in collaboration with Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), has arrested over thirty persons in connection with electoral fraud. LNP Spokesman, Moses Carter, told reporters in Monrovia that those arrested were in possession of double voter cards, while others are believed to be from Sierra Leone.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill recently, the Bong County lawmaker condemned the act in Gbarpolu, describing it as complete intimidation against the female candidate. She cautioned traditional council heads in the county to put an immediate stop to the use of country devil to intimidate women during this critical electoral period. According to her, the country devil is highly respected but should not be used during election time to put fear in any candidate, especially when that candidate is in a lead position. She also called on the national government to exercise maturity in handling the incident in that part of the country.
At the same time, the Bong County lawmaker has expressed interest in contesting for the Deputy Speaker position being created by the election of Deputy Speaker, Prince K. Moye. She emphasized that electing her as Deputy Speaker for the Honorable House of Representatives will balance gender equality, as done by the Executive and the Judiciary. She vowed to lobby with her colleagues in order to have their support for the pending Deputy Speaker election.
She further pointed out that the election of Representative Prince K. Moye as senator of Bong County means a lot to the county. Senator-elect Moye, according to her, will reconcile the county.