Gbarnga, Bong County – There is a sense of joy amongst diehard partisans of the former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) in the party’s stronghold, Bong County, as a founding member of the party, George S. Mulbah, returns after a sour 2017 presidential and representatives election that saw him leaving his political base for the People’s Unification Party (PUP).
It can be recalled that ahead of the 2017 presidential and representative elections, former President Charles G. Taylor was heard in an audio calling on all officials and partisans of the NPP to return to base but that call heeded fruitful results in some quarters and it failed in others.
Pioneering officials of the NPP like Mulbah and Sando D. Johnson left the party but it seems all is not lost as in politics, the situation always changes from one to time as it now seen with the return of Mulbah and Johnson to their original home.
In Bong County, partisans were divided when Mulbah was forced out of the party after a controversial primary that ushered Marvin Cole who, eventually defeated Mulbah during the October 2017 voting in Electoral District #3.
Many partisans of NPP, have been confused over the departure of Mulbah, who is known in the county as “Amowakeh” a kpelle word for saying, “he does whatever he says” but at the weekend when Mulbah took to the social media to announce his return to the party based on an invitation from Vice President Jewel H. Taylor, NPP partisans greeted the news with great relief.
Mulbah posted “The Vice president of Liberia, Madam Jewel Howard-Taylor, today placed a call to me, inviting me for a meeting at the NPP headquarters. During the meeting, the National Executive Committee unanimously voted to reinstate me as Vice Chairman and Hon. Andrew Peters as Secretary General. On behalf of my family, I wish to extend thanks and appreciation to our Standard Bearer for demonstrating the spirit of reconciliation and Leadership. We are now NPP/CDC.”
The post generated huge interest in Bong County with the indications that the long-standing feud between Vice President Taylor and former lawmaker Mulbah has now been resolved.
The feud between the two has been known to many in Bong County and efforts from elders and other prominent citizens in the county to resolve the issues between the two proved futile.
Although after her election Vice President Taylor held a reconciliation program at the Gbarnga Administrative Building and called on all citizens to forget their differences and forge ahead with one agenda for the county.
Mulbah did attend the reconciliation conference and after his defeat, he is yet to be appointed to any position in government, raising concerns that the Vice President was still not in good relationship with him.
Before the conduct of 2017 representative and presidential election, Mulbah after failing to partake in the primary of the NPP for Bong County, found his way to the People’s Unification Party (PUP) in a bid to secure a nomination from the PUP.
Mulbah served as Superintendent of Bong County under the Charles Taylor era before he was later named as Assistant Minister for Trade Union Affairs at the Ministry of Labour following Taylor’s election in 1997 election.
In 2005, Mulbah won as representative of Jorquelleh district and again got reelected in 2011 but his sour relationship with Madam Taylor and the NPP cost him a third term victory in 2017.
Renewed wrangling
His return to the NPP along with others has sparked renewed wrangling in the party with the party’s chairman James Binney insisting that the process was not proper.
Mulbah has defended his return to the party but party Chairman Binney and two other officials of the party insist that the process is void because it was not done properly.
A year ago the story was the other way around as Mulbah, Binney and others were going all out against Madam Taylor for control of the NPP.
Now that Mulbah is now collaborating with the Vice President and other party officials against Binney and others, it is likely that the NPP could see another round of internal uneasiness.
Happy return
Mulbah has expressed his delight at returning to the NPP, the only party to which he accredits his political success, serving as a lawmaker for twelve years.
Political observers in Bong County believe that Mulbah return to the NPP could see him return to political prominence in Liberia.
Some say, he might return to contest the House of Representatives seat in District#3 should incumbent Cole succeed to become victorious in the impending senatorial election.
Others believe that Mulbah might wait for 2020 to contest the senatorial election against Senator Henry Yallah.
Whatever the political game plan of Mulbah, his return to the NPP is a new birth of his political career.