Monrovia – Former Central Bank of Liberia governor Dr. J. Mills Jones has reportedly tipped Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Reeves Jr., the 23rd pastor of one of Liberia’s oldest churches, the Providence Baptist Church, as his running mate ahead of this year’s Presidential elections.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
FrontPageAfrica has learned that an announcement is schedule for later this week.
Dr. Jones, who stepped down from his position after serving two terms as Governor of CBL in March 2016 has come under fire over possible violation of the Code of Conduct but has remained defiant in his quest for the presidency.
Shortly after his resignation he formed the Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE).
“I can’t make any comment tonight -that’s the best I can say to you.” – Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Reeves Jr., Pastor, Providence Baptist Church
Dee Maxwell Kemayah, a strong Jones ally has repeatedly declared Dr. Jones will contest the elections at all cost and no one would stop him from exercising his franchise or inalienable right to contest for any position of choice in Liberia; in this case, the Liberian presidency come October 2017.
“Any attempt to stop Dr. Jones from contesting or running for the presidency in the October 2017 elections, the Liberian people will not accept it,” Kemayah said earlier this year.
Accepting the party’s petition in February while in Gbarpolu, Dr. Jones pleaded with Liberians to vote for him in the upcoming elections.
“It has also been a journey during which we have had the benefit and care of loving parents who instilled in me a sense of moral responsibility to care not just for myself but also for others, something that money cannot buy.”
His reported choice of Dr. Reeves is likely to raise eyebrows and possible cries of an elitist ticket.
Before returning to Providence in 2006, the clergyman served as Co-Pastor of the Madison Square Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States of America.
In May, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf appointed Dr. Reeves as Co-Chairman to the Board of Trustees of the Grand Bassa Community College (GBCC).
Providence Baptist Church, the oldest church in Liberia, was founded on Providence Island in Monrovia in 1822 by its first pastor, Rev. Lot Carey.
This is not the first time that a clergyman will be tipped for the political line.
The Late President William R. Tolbert was elected Vice President to William Tubman in 1952 and served in that position until he became President following Tubman’s death in 1971.
Tolbert then tipped Bennie Warner as his vice president in 1977.
Bishop Roland Diggs was vice-president to Dr. Amos C. Sawyer’s Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU).
Asked about the report Monday, Rev. Dr. Kortu Brown, General Overseer of the New Water in the Desert and former Liberia Council of Churches Vice President, said he had not heard the news but described Rev. Reeves as a hard-working man.
“I don’t know much about Dr. Mills Jones but Sam is a hard-working man and he’s done well at providence but I’ve not heard anything about this.”
Multiple sources confirmed to FrontPageAfrica Monday that Rev. Reeves has reportedly asked the church for a leave of absence as he embarks on his journey with Dr. Jones.
Contacted Monday the clergyman told FrontPageAfrica via phone: “I can’t make any comment tonight -that’s the best I can say to you.”
Calls placed also to Mr. Kemayah were not returned.
Rep. Edwin Snowe (UP, Montserrado County District No. 6), a long-time member of the church, upon hearing the news said he has embarked on a process by writing a letter transferring his membership to Elijah Baptist Church in Tubmanburg, Bomi County.
The lawmaker has launched an unprecedented bid to contest the Senjeh District in Bomi County’s District No. 1 in the upcoming legislative race.
The district is currently represented by Cllr. Samuel Garha Karmo.