Monrovia – Liberia’s National Elections Commission is hoping to avert and learn from some of the painful lessons of the 2011 presidential and legislative elections, the most notorious of which involved the trucking of voters from one constituency to the other to cast their ballots.
Report by Henry Karmo, [email protected]
Numerous allegations and stories surfaced in 2011 regarding incumbent lawmakers piling voters onto trucks, paying them to vote and holding onto their cards until election day during which they are again piled on trucks and taken to voting boots.
NEC Chair Cllr. Jerome Korkoya was summoned to appear before the Plenary of the House of Representative by Representative Bill Twehway(CDC, District 3, Montserrado County) throw light on the issue.
In testimony Tuesday morning, the NEC boss says the commission will monitor the activities seriously and defined that trucking means people taking people from elsewhere with no connection to a particular place for bad purposes to vote for them.
Pressed by Rep. Twehway how the elections commission intends to monitor or determine trucking violation.
Cllr. Korkoya said: “It might be premature to tell you that everything that comes out of the trucking issue will be addressed.
“We will try to determine the intent. People have a right to go to places where they come from to vote and I don’t think that was the intent of the lawmakers when they passed the law.”
The NEC boss explained that if a voter is from Margibi County for example, they have the right to go there to register and vote.
“What trucking tries to prohibit is let say for a lack of better word, bad people going into other areas; that has absolute no connection in the area but to propel them in power will face 6 month in prison.
“You don’t have to ride truck whatever means once it is established that it is the intent.”
Under Section 4.5 of the Election Law of Liberia, a violator guilty of trucking faces up to six months in prison.
The trucking issue has been a major concern for many, particularly those looking to oust incumbents from office.
During a recent campaign stop, Atty. Miller Catakaw, one of several aspirants looking to oust Munah Pelham Youngblood(CDC, Montserrado County District #9) prevailed on residents of the district not to allow themselves to be trucked politicians during upcoming elections.
The aspirant said the trucking of voters from one area to another has been a serious problem in Liberia, which must not be allowed during the pending elections.
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