The Political Leader of the Liberty Party (LP) and Senator of Grand Bassa County, Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, has been declared incompetent by senior officials of the Liberty Party for bringing the party to public ridicule, not understanding the party’s procedures and loosing grip of influence over members of her own party.
The harsh political undercut in Senator Karnga-Lawrence’s career comes just a few months to the Collaboration of Political Parties (CPP) convention, in which she is expected to be a major decision maker. The CPP convention will be preceded by consensus building, which will be decided by the standard bearers of the four constituent parties only, and Senator Karnga-Lawrence is expected to represent the Liberty Party, but is now faced with disturbing allegations from the party’s Chairman, Musa Hassan Bility, and the Vice Chairman for Legal Affairs of the party, Atty. Isaac Jackson.
It can be recalled that, on August 4, 2021 Senator Karnga-Lawrence wrote the National Elections Commission (NEC) withdrawing the Liberty Party’s by-laws and constitution adopted at its general convention and submitted to the NEC by the party’s Chairman, Bility, and Secretary General, Martin Kolleh, for being tempered with. Her intent was to the replace newly adopted constitution with the 2015 version. However, the NEC did not delve into the significance of her complaint but dismissed the matter and corrected her procedural error, referring her to the Grievance and Ethics Committee of the party to resolve the in-house matter.
Recently, the embattled Political Leader of the Liberty Party constituted an ad-hoc Investigative Board, headed by the former Vice Standard Bearer of the party, Harrison Karnwea, to look into the issues arising within the party. Unfortunately, Karnwea rejected her appointment and reminded her that she was a party to the problem and, as such, she did not have the authority to constitute a committee, as it would appear bias and may not investigate the matter properly. He, too, referred her to the Ethics and Grievance Committee of the party for redress.
From the unfolding, it seems like Senator Karnga-Lawrence is not willing to submit herself to a committee that is headed by an individual who rose to the position from the outcome of the convention that she considers null and void.
The LP first partisan is the Chairperson of the Collaboration of Political Parties (CPP) and is supposedly the most powerful person within the collaboration. In fact, there is rumor that she is maneuvering to become the running mate to Unity Party’s Joseph N. Boakai amidst a heightened rivalry between the former Vice President and the Alternative National Congress’ Political Leader, Alexander Benedict Cummings.
But the LP Chairman and Vice Chair for Legal Affairs have expressed disappointment in the way their Political Leader is handling the affairs of the party, accusing her of either being incompetent, inexperienced or piling up a farrago of lies.
Specifically, Atty. Jackson said that the Political Leader has reduced herself to signing press releases, and when that begins to happen in the LP it means the leader is no longer capable of delegating responsibilities to other members of the party, which is somewhat embarrassing. He said the actions of Senator Karnga-Lawrence is either covetously driven by the ego of her political ambition, showing her level of incompetence or relying on a farrago of lies to stall the forward march of the Liberty Party, which are not in anyway helping the party.
On the other hand, Chairman Bility has urged the Senator of Montserrado County, Abraham Darius Dillon, to begin to soul-purge, because he is gradually leading himself into a pool of confusion and undoing himself, and in the process he is hurting a lot of people.
Senator Dillon on the 50-50 talk show recently accused Chairman Bility of being a blackmailer, whose purpose is to deliver the LP to the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) before the 2023 general and presidential elections. He accused his party’s Chairman of being full of confusion, and the hullabaloo in the LP only started after Bility took over as Chairman.
Sharply reacting to Senator Dillon, Chairman Bility said he did not take over the Liberty Party for it to become a failed party; as such, he will do everything possible to ensure that the party keep going. He accused Senator Dillon of being in the middle of all the party’s recent troubles because of the lies he has been telling.
According to Chairman Bility, the night before their convention in Gbarnga, Senator Dillon proposed the restoration of all the powers of the Political Leader, and that he, the Vice Chair for Political Affairs, becomes the Acting Political Leader in her absence.
The LP Chairman said, in his mind, Dillon sounded comical, but the same Dillon is now parading with lies about what actually transpired during their convention.
Reacting to Dillon’s accusation of being a blackmailer and an agent of the CDC, Chairman Bility said he least expected such utterances from the Senator. He disclosed that he provided a jeep and US$20,000 for Dillon’s campaign, depriving his children and relatives of needed opportunities at the time.
He said now that Dillon is calling him a blackmailer, he should return the blackmailer’s money and car, because he is the light of integrity. He informed Senator Dillon that he is willing to receive his money in installments since he is now making money as a Senator.