MONROVIA – The appointed Margibi County Project Planner, J. David Somah, has accused the County Superintendent, Jerry O. Varnie, of blocking him from taking on the post more than a year now despite being appointed by President George M. Weah and subsequently confirmed by the Liberian Senate.
Mr. Somah said that he was among seven local officials of Margibi County who were nominated by the Liberian Leader on October 8, 2018 and further requested to submit copies of their respective curriculum vitae to the Secretary of the Liberian Senate as requirement leading to their confirmation.
This information corroborates with the list of local government appointees of Margibi County seen by this reporter on the official website of the Liberian presidency (emansion).
Mr. Somah said after the Senate’s confirmation process, he came back to the county to start the job, but was allegedly blocked by Supt. Varnie on grounds that he did not deserve to get the job because he was not well known amongst the hierarchy of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the county.
He stated that due to his persistency to begin the job, Supt. Varnie, who is also the County Chairperson of the Coalition for Democratic Change allegedly opted that they enter into a bargaining for him (Mr. Somah) to disregard his position to the post of County Engineer and instead allow one of his confidants to take on the job.
The Margibi County appointed Project Planner speaking to this newspaper on Tuesday, October 29, in Kakata, Margibi County, alleged that based on his vehement refusal to adhere to the demand of the Margibi County Superintendent, he went on in total disregard to the authority of the President of Liberia to replace him with one Lester Taylor.
Supt. Varnie’s action to usurp the authority of President Weah, according to David Somah, undermines the honest efforts of the Liberian Leader to get all Liberians playing meaningful roles in the promotion of the peace and development of the country.
Continuing, Mr. Somah in a somewhat desolated tone added, “Supt. Varnie is one of those persons in government who are involved in making the CDC-led government looks irresponsible. I was sent here by the President to make my contributions to this government; to deny someone who was appointed by the President to serve is degrading and frustrating.”
He averred that despite exerting all efforts to get the attention of party officials in Margibi County to have Supt. Varnie reconsidered his decision in order to have him get his job, has proven futile.
He, however, wants President Weah’s intervention into the situation because as a trained engineer, he is eager to begin to make his contribution to the forward march of Liberia.
When contacted via mobile phone on Wednesday, October 30, Supt. Varnie, who is currently in the United States of America attending the annual All Margibi Conference switched his phone off after this newspaper solicited his response to the allegation from Somah. The Margibi County Supt. Has also failed to reply to text messages sent to him.