Gbarnga, Bong County – Mounting tension within the Citizens Movement for Change (CMC) in Bong County has reportedly pushed the party’s County Chairman, Solomane Swaray, to the brink of resignation, following what sources describe as a deepening fallout with Representative Marvin Cole, the party’s Vice Chairman for Operations.
By Selma Lomax [email protected]
According to information gathered by FrontPageAfrica, the strained relationship between the two senior CMC officials has been building for weeks, centered around issues of leadership, coordination, and control within the local party structure.
Swaray, known for his tireless organizational work and efforts to expand the CMC’s base in Bong County, is said to have grown increasingly frustrated by what he perceives as deliberate attempts by Representative Cole to undermine his authority and marginalize his leadership role.
Multiple sources within the CMC have revealed that Representative Cole has repeatedly prevented Chairman Swaray from speaking at major party events held in Bong County in recent months. At least two significant CMC programs — the bridge project dedication initiated by Political Leader Musa Bility and the unveiling of Regional Coordinator for Region Three Jonah Togbah in Siaquelleh, District 4 — reportedly saw Swaray sidelined on Representative Cole’s orders. This move, according to insiders, angered the county chairman and deepened the rift between the two men.
A CMC insider told this paper, “Chairman Swaray felt disrespected and humiliated. He has been leading the party’s grassroots mobilization in Bong, but at these key events, he was not allowed to speak. It was clear that Representative Cole wanted to control everything.”
The latest confrontation reportedly unfolded on Sunday, when senior party officials from Monrovia convened a meeting at Representative Cole’s Gbarnga residence in an effort to calm tensions between the two leaders. However, sources say the situation only worsened after remarks made by Representative Cole during the meeting further infuriated Swaray.
During the discussions, Representative Cole allegedly told Swaray that he needed to “experience political struggle” before being rewarded with political benefits. “Before you eat political money, you have to pass through the struggle,” Cole reportedly said. “I supported former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor in 2005 and was rewarded in 2016 with the Gbarnga City Mayor job.”
Those comments, according to multiple witnesses, did not sit well with Swaray, who viewed them as belittling and dismissive of his contributions to the party.
On Monday, a day after the meeting, Swaray took to Facebook with a lengthy post that political observers interpreted as a veiled expression of his frustration and a possible prelude to resignation. In the post, he reflected on themes of time, leadership, and loyalty — which many believe were directed at Representative Cole and the CMC leadership.
“Time is the most prestigious thing in life,” Swaray wrote. “It summarizes success and failure depending on how you use it. When people give you their time in full, it means they have given their life wheel to you to drive it to either of the two directions: failure or success.”
He further emphasized that leaders must allow their managers to perform their duties without interference, writing, “Leaders strike a goal for the organization to achieve. Managers should be given all supports by the leaders to execute the change in record time. In no circumstances a servant can take the glory in front of the leaders.”
The tone of Swaray’s post, coupled with his visible absence from recent CMC events, has fueled speculation that his resignation from the party is imminent. Political commentators say his remarks highlight growing dissatisfaction with what he and others describe as Representative Cole’s domineering leadership style.
Efforts by FrontPageAfrica to obtain official comments from both Swaray and Representative Cole proved unsuccessful. Neither man has publicly addressed the reported fallout or the rumors of Swaray’s pending resignation. However, sources within the party confirm that behind-the-scenes efforts are ongoing to prevent the situation from escalating further and fracturing the CMC’s already fragile unity in Bong County.
If Swaray indeed resigns, analysts believe it would deal a serious blow to the Citizens Movement for Change’s organizational strength in the region. Since assuming the position of county chairman, Swaray has been widely credited with mobilizing youth supporters, coordinating local structures, and helping to establish CMC’s presence in Bong — one of Liberia’s most competitive political battlegrounds.
“The CMC will lose a strong grassroots mobilizer if Swaray walks away,” said one local observer. “This crisis also exposes the internal power struggles that have been quietly building within the party since its formation.”
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