Paynesville – As the October Presidential and general elections come closer, former Liberian President, Charles Taylor’s daughter, Charlyne A. Taylor has declared intention to contest the representative seat of District#5 Montserrado County.
Report by Augustine T. Tweh – [email protected]
According to Charlyne, her ambition to contest the representative seat of District#5 Montserrado County is based on her desire to deliver humanitarian services to residents of the district and Liberia at large.
“I was motivated to contest because I am a humanitarian and come from a background where my father, former President Charles Taylor, as you know was a humanitarian and dedicated his life and service to this country and the people of Liberia. So growing up in such environment is difficult for you to see people suffering and not want to help” she said.
Addressing scores of residents of District#5 Montserrado County during the acquaintance program over the weekend, Charlyne Taylor said the district is at a cross road after years of electing leaders to help ease the livelihood of residents of the district.She added that the district still remains one of the dirtiest and under developed districts in the city of Paynesville.
“District #5 is at a crossroad after so many years of electing leaders to help ease the difficulties and hardship, we still remains one of the dirtiest and under develop districts in Paynesville. Being a resident of the district has proven to me that I am needed to rise to the occasion and stand for my people” she noted.
Charlyne Taylor added that if given the opportunity to serve as representative of the district, she will make sure to modernize the district infrastructure, stressing that she will make sure that District#5 leads in Paynesville developmental initiatives and basic service delivery.
The representative aspirant also noted that investing in human resource capacity building will be one of the outmost priorities under her administration as representative of the district.
Also speaking at the program, Andrew Peters, Secretary General of the National Patriotic Party (NPP) said Charlyne A. Taylor has the strength, qualifications and leadership ability to lead the district if given the opportunity in October.
“Charlyne Taylor has the strength, qualifications and leadership ability to lead this district. The NPP believed in a democratic free and fair process, this is why in 1997, among the thirteen political parties that contested for the presidency, the NPP won up to 87%, because we provided opportunities for people who deserve those opportunities” he averred.
The NPP Secretary General noted that despite all of the international contributions and the country’s natural resources, a small group of people are benefiting at the expense of the masses under the Sirleaf administration.
“During the days of the NPP, even a market woman could purchase a bag of rice and feed herself and her family on a daily basis. Today in this country, we have two groups of people, the people that are surviving and the people that are living. People who determine what to eat for whole week and people who cannot afford to eat a cup of rice a day” he asserted.
Andrew Peters said he is optimistic that Charlyne A. Taylor is one of those persons, if given the opportunity, who will not compromise the interest and future of the district, declaring that twelve years for any person that served in the Sirleaf administration is sufficient.
“I believed that Charlyne is one those persons that if given the opportunity to lead will not compromise your destiny, will not compromise your future, because you see your future in her. For us, the NPP believed that the twelve years of madam Sirleaf administration is sufficient, the twelve years to any other person serving under madam Sirleaf regime is enough” he said.
For his part, J. Venecious Fallah, Sand Town Community Chairman said Charlyne Taylor is a resident and daughter of the district and by constitution has the right to contest the district highest seat.
“Election is a game, so you will see more contestants coming, and especially for us this is our district, so we will scrutinize all of those that want to take the leadership of our district to see how they can be able to manage our people. It is our responsibility to make sure that the district is protected by who be representative for this district” he said.