Totota, Bong County – Last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court on the controversial Code of Conduct (CoC) has brought what could be described as life into the political ambitions of former Bong County superintendent Madam Selena Polson-Mappy and former Deputy Minister of Information Andrew Tehmeh, who were virtually out of the political process.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
After winning the ruling Unity Party primary in District #6 in Bong County, the party did not submit Polson-Mappy’s nomination papers, eagerly awaiting the outcome of multiple petitions filed before the high court on the CoC.
She waited patiently as her political ambition vanished in thin air, until the last day, when she finally submitted her papers after the court ruled in favor of Liberty Party’s vice standard bearer Harrison Karnwea and the vice standard bearer of Alternative National Congress (ANC) Jeremiah Sulunteh that the National Elections Commission should rather levy fines than barring these two from contesting.
Now, after the submission of her candidacy to the NEC, Polson-Mappy Tuesday received a heroic welcome on her return to Totota, electoral district six, where she will be aspiring as representative of that district.
Polson-Mappy, whose appeal on the CoC was rejected by the Supreme Court in March this year, had insisted that she would be a candidate for the district.
Legislative candidates in the district including Lee Rogers of Liberty Party and Corneh had hoped that the court bars Polson-Mappy from contesting.
“I hope the Supreme Court will uphold the rule of law and bar Polson-Mappy from contesting because we have to respect the law,” Corneh spoke to FrontPageAfrica prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Polson-Mappy.
Rogers expressed disappointment in the ruling.
“We are disappointed in the Supreme Court for the ruling. Polson-Mappy would have been the main person the Supreme Court would have barred from contesting,” he said.
Taunting opponents
On her return to the district, Polson-Mappy who resigned her post as superintendent of Bong County on July 6, 2017, sent jibe at her opponents who had wished negative about her in the CoC saga.
“The plans of my opponents have failed. I will be a candidate in the race and I will defeat every one of them like I defeated the Code of Conduct. “
“They thought I wouldn’t contest in the district, but I want to tell them that I am back with vigor,” Polson-Mappy said.
Polson-Mappy said the Supreme Court’s ruling has given her more vigor to defeat her opponents in the upcoming election.
“The latest ruling from the Supreme Court has given me strength and enthusiasms to continue to do more for my people of electoral district six. I am the next lawmaker of electoral district six,” Polson-Mappy said.
Could CoC clearance boost Polson-Mappy’s chances?
Even before the Supreme Court’s verdict on Polson-Mappy, Polson-Mappy used her position to attract county-sponsored projects to district.
Though her critics say her projects attracted to the districts are government funded projects, Polson-Mappy boasts of attracting over 15 projects since her five years stint as superintendent of the county.
She constructed a town hall in Zeanzue clan, rehabilitated feeder roads in the three clans in the district can testify to benefit.
For Polson-Mappy, who firstly contested in the 2011 election and finished third in the district with 2400 (22.4 per cent), believes her position as superintendent has increased her popularity among her kinsmen.
“This is the best chance I have to win the district because I have come to the election with impeccable records as former superintendent of the county. “
“Through my position I have managed to attract more projects to the district and those projects are now impacting the people of the district,” she said.
“I contested the 2011 election when I was just an accountant of a fishery company and I got 2400 votes.”
“This time around I am going into the election as a former superintendent who has come with so much history,” she added.
The ruling by the Supreme Court ultimately comes as boost to the former Superintendent as voters could even sympathize with her situation and prefer rewarding her for her courage, according to political observers.
She was the first in the Republic to muster the courage to challenge certain provisions of the Code of Conduct, insisting that it violated her constitutional rights.
Such bravery by a sitting Superintendent to file a petition against the government for a law that was signed by the President of the Republic could be some of the reasons to help the former Superintendent attract more supporters.
When others dare challenge the law, she took the lead, which is a good trait of a leader and with her clearance; her opponent might be up for a big fight in October.
Tehmeh in the clear, too
In Bong County, another person whose opponents were wishing to see off the race is the former Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Andrew Tehmeh.
Incumbent lawmaker of District 7 Corpu Barclay openly expressed that she wished the Deputy Minister was barred from contesting to give her an edge in the process.
Surviving death, Tehmeh says
Tehmeh, after his clearance on the final day like the case of Madam Mappy, described the situation as surviving death.
“This is like surviving a death trap, it has given me more strength to fight,” he said.
Like Tehmeh and Mappy, the decision by the Supreme Court has come as big boost to their political ambitions, according to political observers.