Monrovia –The National Elections Commission (NEC) has rejected notifications from Rev. Kennedy Sandy, of the Liberia Transformation Party (LTP) of his intent to withdraw from the 2017presidential and legislative contest.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
According to the NEC, pursuant to the Election Law withdrawal is not permitted at this point in line with Section 4.7.
According to NEC Chairman Cllr. Jerome Korkoya at his regular weekly Press Conference, Rev. Sandy said the reason for his withdrawal is because of his involvement with the Constitution Review Committee.
Section 4.7 of the law states: “Ballot papers shall be in a form to be prescribed by the Commission, who shall arrange to print and issue them for the polls.
The ballot paper shall include the names of candidates in alphabetical order of surname, the name of the party, and the selected emblem.
Different colored ballots may be provided for elections to differed elective offices.”
Sandy was considered a big spender in the 2011 presidential elections.
He was one of the first religious leaders to have stepped up in 2011 to contest against incumbent President Ellen Jonson Sirleaf.
He obtained 13,612 votes of the total vote’s count which accumulated to 1.1%.
His request for withdrawal from the contest comes just 27 days to the October 10, 2017 presidential and general elections.
After the elections he was appointed by President Ellen Jonson Sirleaf on the board of the Constitute Review committee.
He resigned two years to the 2017 elections.
Rev. Sandy was born on November 27, 1963 to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Jallah B. Sandy in the town of Keita, in Grand Cape Mount County, Republic of Liberia.
Rev. Sandy served as Pastor, General Overseer, and Bishop of the St. Peter United Church of the Lord, Worldwide.
He is the Founder of the International Organization for the Advancement of Humanity (IOAH) and also the Founder and President of the International Association of Pastors and Churches.
Furthermore, due to his interest in security, Rev. Sandy attended the Guardian Security Academy in Maryland, USA, where he specialized in Homeland Security.
Apparently Rev. Kennedy G. Sandy has been a security expert and served as Senior Advisor and Security Consultant at the US Homeland Security.
He served in various capacities in the following areas at the US Forensic Crime laboratory; U.S. Treasury; US Center for Disease Control; US Science Foundation and the US Record Center.
Political parties’ non-compliance
The NEC chairman also told Journalists at the press briefing that in respect to the requirement of political parties to submit accounts, statements of assets and liabilities pursuant to article 83 d. of the constitution and chapter 7 of the elections law, the NEC has still not received these from all political parties.
Korkoya said: “The Board of Commissioners met to deliberate on this issue and will be addressing these cases in accordance with the law. Appropriate actions will be taken for political parties that continue to fail to comply with constitutional and legal requirements.”
The NEC chairman also disclosed that as part of legal hearing in complaints filed against the NEC by the some candidates, the commission said the Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal in the Michael Sleiwon case on the 12 of September 2017.
Chairman Korkoya said, the Supreme Court is due to hear the case challenging the right of 11 political parties shortly.
“The NEC wishes to once more call on all political parties to be responsible in their actions.”
“The commission respects the right of all parties to freedom of speech. It would however, like to stress that unsubstantiated allegations or reckless statement made by parties could damage our process without grounds.
In line with the legal timetable and provisions set out in chapter 3 of the Elections law, the NEC said, it has completed the final vote register and as required by section 3.19 of this no further changes will be made to the register unless ordered by the Honourable Supreme Court.
The final register contains 2,183,629 voters. A comprehensive set of integrity checks were made on the register and du-duplication process conducted in advance of its release. In total, there were 4,567 (0.21 percent) incidents of duplication identified and corrected following appropriate examination the NEC said.