Monrovia – President George Manneh Weah received a lot of votes from women, but many of these same women say they will not vote for the Coalition for Democratic Change’s candidates in the senatorial by-election because they are not too happy with the ruling party’s performance so far.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson-Mbayo, [email protected]
In interviews conducted over the weekend, some women said they are also concerned that the party is also featuring two candidates, who are already serving in the House of Representatives — Saah Joseph of Montserrado County District 13 and Marvin Cole of Bong County.
The by-election is planned for July 31, 2018.
Joseph is vying for the Montserrado County senatorial seat made vacant by the election of President Weah, while Cole is vying for the senatorial seat of Bong County, which was occupied by now Vice-President Jewel Howard Taylor.
Cole was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2017 general elections, and some women say the CDC lawmaker has not made much impact in the district to be running for Senator of the county.
The women are outraged that the CDC will allow two sitting lawmakers run for the Senate at the same time that the government is complaining about being broke amid compounded development priorities captured in its “pro-poor agenda.”
In the 2017 election, Rep. Joseph received 18,276 or 64 percent of the votes in his district; while Cole won with 23 percent or 5,899 votes in Bong County District #3.
Elfreda Brown, 34, sells fruits in Waterside market. She said the lawmakers and the CDC are putting self-interests above country.
“Why would President Weah allow two sitting lawmakers from his party to contest the by-elections when he asked citizens to be patient about the economic hardship facing the country?” Brown asked. She has not decided whom she will vote for among the candidates.
Rachel Dunbar, 43, a petty trader at the same market, agrees with Brown, arguing that the ruling party is “selfish and not working in the interest of Liberia.”
“They sat 12 years observing the same wrongs,” Dunbar said. “We expect them to bring the changes they told us, but to allow Rep. Joseph to contest, I think it’s unfair. If he wins, the country will go for another by-election, what sense does it make?’’
Dunbar is also undecided about whether she will vote or who to vote for.
“The time I will take to go on line to vote for a sitting lawmaker, I will go sell to get more profits,” Dunbar said.
“Things prices are climbing the ladder, nothing is being done.”
Another petty trader, Marie Lakpor, 32, is showing serious apathy for the upcoming by-election.
“I have decided not to vote because I have no interest in the upcoming election,’’ she said. ‘’My main focus is to sell and put aside (money) for my children’s school fees.”
“The economy is not good for market women,” adds Lakpor, who sells locks, cylinders, cotton bubs and hair combs on Water Street.
She hopes that the economy can improve soon.
Albertine Johnson, 29, sells frozen foods at Jorkpentown Market in Sinkor. Ms. Johnson claims that no patriotic Liberian should support the CDC’s decision to allow sitting lawmakers contest the election.
Johnson said she respects Joseph’s contribution during the Ebola outbreak, but argues that “What he is doing now is not in the interests of the country.”
“If Joseph wanted to run for the Senate, he should not have run in 2017.”
“I am not voting,” she said bluntly. Anyone who wins that’s it. I voted the CDC in 2017, but this action to allow Joseph to contest is wicked and I am not in support of it. I’m not voting.”
Some women in Rep. Joseph’s district also expressed similar sentiments about his candidature, terming it as “selfish”.
Irene Johnson sells in the market that Joseph built as part of his Legislative Support projects.
“I am not voting for him, though I sell under this market,’’ she said. “What difference will he make when they are the same kind of people who only focus on what they can get?”
Irene’s friend, Bernice Cole has decided to stay home on July 31, 2018.
“Myself not voting him,’’ she says. “We don’t have money to have another by-election.”
When the House of Representatives declared the two seats vacant, there were grave disagreements between the Minister of Finance and the National Elections Commission (NEC) over the allocation of funds for the conduct of the polls.
In February 2018, Finance Minister Samuel Tweah and Chairman of NEC, Jerome Korkoyah, were at loggerheads over the funding for the election. At one point Minister Tweah described the by-election as “insignificant”, sparking outrage from several opposition political parties in the country.
Korkoya said the Commission needed 2.5 million to run the elections, but Tweah claimed there was no money for the by-election.
The by-election was later postponed indefinitely due to the lack of money until a joint resolution was passed by the Legislature.