Monrovia – Representative Julie Wiah (IND-District#2-Lofa County) won as an independent candidate in a by-election in Lofa County after the county lost her now deceased predecessor Fofie Saah Bimba in 2015.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
She won a by-election heavily contested by ten candidates, eight of which represented political parties, including the Unity Party.
Despite her victory as an independent candidate, she has pledged to support the candidacy of the Unity Party Standard Bearer Vice President Joseph Boakai.
She also announced that she will be seeking re-election as an independent candidate again.
“Let me use this important occasion to announce that I am seeking re-election come October as an Independent Candidate.”
“As you may know, I ran and won independent of any political affiliation during the 2015 by-election.
Rep. Wiah said, before her election in 2015, she built a relationship with the people of District #2 that crossed all political, religious and social boundaries and until now, having been in office for one-year seventh months, she still enjoys the trust and confidence of her people.
“Having said that, the chiefs, elders, youth within all social and economic organization of District#2 of Lofa County have asked me to inform you that they will be supporting Ambassador Joseph Nyumah Boakai, Standard-bearer of the Unity Party, for President come October,” Wiah said.
“Again, I hereby officially, in obedience to my people and by my own passion, endorse the presidential bid of Ambassador Boakai,” Wiah said.
Her endorsement of the VP comes as no surprise to many critics as the Unity Party has not put forth a candidate against her in the district.
“My people and I believe, like hundreds of other Liberians that, Ambassador Boakai possess the needed leadership abilities based upon his moral and technical qualities.
“His 40 years of civil service demonstrate his commitment, dedication, and passion towards this country.”
She described the Unity Party political leader as an honest man because according to her he has worked for everything he owns today.
“We believe that honesty is the main characteristic we should look for in our next leader and this is something Ambassador Boakai has demonstrated over the years he has faithfully served this country,” she added.
Tally results from the National Elections show that Wiah won the by-election with one thousand nine hundred seventy-four (1,974) which amounted to 20.11 percent of the total vote counts.
The final result of the by-election showed that valid votes cast in the election amounted to 9,816 while 391 were invalid votes.