Monrovia & Gbarnga – Cllr. Jerome George Korkoya, Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), has declared Dr. Henrique Tokpa winner of the July 31st by-election in Bong County. Tokpa, according to the NEC Chairman, will be certificated in keeping with the Constitutional time.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected] and Henry Karmo, [email protected]
Tokpa, who ran as an independent candidate and was endorsed by three opposition political parties, Alternative National Congress (ANC), Unity Party (UP) and Liberty Party (LP), will replace and complete the remaining six years of Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor.
Madam Taylor’s ascendance to the Vice President post made the Bong County Senate seat she had occupied vacant.
“In keeping with Section 2.9(g) of the New Elections Law of Liberia, I, on behalf of the Board of Commissioners of the National Elections Commission, do hereby declare Dr. Henrique Tokpa as the winner of the July 31, 2018 Senatorial by-election in Bong County,” Korkoya said.
Dr. Tokpa contested in the 2014 Special Senatorial Election and came as first runner-up to Madam Taylor (now Vice President). He claimed there was a foul play to deny him the Senate seat. He ran to the Supreme Court to contest the result. The case was later withdrawn and settled out of court between the two Bong statespersons — Jewel & Tokpa.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, August 2, the NEC Chairman also disclosed that the Commission has not yet received any complaints on the conduct of the by-election or the tallying process.
He also stated that they have now received all the results from all 502 polling places in Bong County and this constitutes the results for Bong.
Independent candidate Tokpa obtained a total vote of 27,808 constituting 47.0 percent. He was closely followed by ruling party Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) Marvin Cole with 20,982 votes, constituting 35.4 percent of the total votes count. Bong County registered a total vote count of 60,463, with 59,194 valid votes and 1,269 invalid votes.
Also, in the same July 31st by-election for Montserrado County, Representative Saah Joseph continues to maintain the lead with 37,141 votes, constituting 55.2 percent of the total vote count. Rep. Joseph, who is presently serving second term as the lawmaker for Montserrado District #13, is closely followed by Bernard (DJ Blue) Benson, an independent candidate with 14,074 constituting 20.9 percent.
Unlike Bong County, the NEC Chairman said they have completed counting 947 of the 1,790 polling places in Montserrado County constituting 52.91 percent.
“We had planned to announce results from all polling places in the two counties today but the change of venue from the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sport Complex to our Conference Hall for the tallying of votes in Montserrado County has impacted our ability to do so.
“At the SKD Sports Complex, we had space to erect 11 work stations whereas our conference Hall can accommodate a maximum of six work stations. Be that as it may, we are hopeful of announcing final results from Montserrado County on tomorrow, August 3, 2018.”
Marvin Cole Concedes, Congratulates Tokpa
Meanwhile, Rep. Marvin Cole, CDC, Thursday congratulated Senator-elect Tokpa.
Cole called on his supporters to remain calm and embrace Tokpa as their next Senator, replacing Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, who ran a divisive campaign, calling Tokpa “too old’’ to serve as Senator and accused the former Cuttington University president of being only interested in saving money for his retirement.
“I want to call on my supporters to remain calm in the midst of NEC’s provisional results,” he said. “Whoever wins the election will be our senator.”
Cole became a lawmaker last October when he won the Bong District three seat. He called his loss a blessing in disguise.
“We fought a good fight,’’ he said. “The citizens have spoken. We will live with the results to move our county forward.”
As he congratulated Dr. Tokpa, Cole thanked those who voted for him in the by-election.
Cole, a former staffer in VP Taylor’s office, was appointed mayor of Gbarnga in January 2017. Three months later, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf dismissed him for demolishing people’s homes, a violation of the city’s ordinance.
Cole defeated George Mulbah of the People’s Unification Party, attaining 23.2 percent of the 5,889 votes compared to Mulbah’s 1,876 or 7.4 percent of the vote in a race comprising 15 candidates.
“Six months ago, no one knew that Marvin Cole could have stood up and put up a huge challenge like the one we are seeing today,’’ he said, referring to the Senate race. ‘’I am grateful to every one of you people for standing up to support the CDC.’’
He called on county leaders to unite for the collective interest of the county.
“It is time we as leaders put our differences aside and unite to develop the county,’’ he said. ‘’I strongly feel Bong County won the election.’’
Dr. Tokpa received the support of the county’s six lawmakers. The lawmakers banded under the banner: “Majority bloc,” a move that caused citizens to believe that the county was divided going into the by-election.
Cole hopes he and his colleagues can move on now that the election is over.
“I strongly believe that my colleagues took their side because they have the constitutional right to do so,’’ Cole said. “Now that the elections are over, we will now work as a team to deliver.’’
Congratulatory Messages from Others
Dr. Tokpa also received congratulatory messages from Prince Kollie, of the Vision of Liberia Party.
Speaking on Radio Gbarnga’s Breakfast Show, Kollie urged citizens to accept the results and work to push the county forward.
“The citizens have spoken,” he said. “We will live with the results to move our county forward.”
Kollie said Tokpa should see his election as a turning point to reconcile the caucus.
“This is a litmus test for the county legislative caucus,” Kollie said; adding: “They should use this time to unite.”
Bong citizens also called for unity in the interest of the development of the county. Some citizens said they hope Tokpa will work with caucus members to ensure that the Bong County Community College is completed.