Salala District, Bong County – It all started as a petition filed by one individual, Bong County Superintendent Selena Mappy-Polson, who petitioned the Supreme Court for declaratory judgment, praying the high court to declare Section 5.2 of the Code of Conduct (CoC) Act unconstitutional and of no legal basis.
Selma Lomax, [email protected]
Petitioner Polson-Mappy in 2016 contended that this section of the code violated her constitutional right.
Now considered a bombshell, the Supreme Court in its March 2, 2017 opinion denied the petition prayed for by Superintendent Polson-Mappy stating that the petition had no basis, both in law and in fact.
For many, the Supreme Court’s ruling could be swept under the carpet like the popular saying goes “the Liberian way” and many government officials including Superintendent Polson-Mappy until now have maintained that they will contest the pending October 10 plebiscite.
Celebrations mar Supreme Court’s Kamara vs NEC ruling in Bong
With the March 2017 Supreme Court’s ruling known, many individuals still ventured to register as Representative candidates but when the National Elections Commissions (NEC) recently rejected the nomination of Abu Kamara, Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, supporters of aspirants in the electoral district six in Bong, where Bong County superintendent Selena Mappy -Polson is aspiring to contest as representative, took to the streets in Totota in the district to celebrate the news.
NEC disqualified Kamara, because it said he was a sitting government employee who had intended contesting for a legislative seat but still held unto his position in flagrant violation of the law.
To rivals’ supporters in the district, the reason for Kamara’s disqualification suits the case of Polson-Mappy, who is yet to resign her position as superintendent.
“We want to congratulate the Supreme Court of Liberia for the verdict on Abu Kamara. We hope that it will apply to the superintendent of Bong County Selena Polson-Mappy,” Dauda Sesay, a supporter of incumbent lawmaker Adam Bill Corneh rejoiced.
Polson-Mappy’s decision to challenge the Code of Conduct in January and lost the petition has earned her the nickname in Bong County “Madam Code of Conduct”.
Lee Rogers, a legislative candidate in district six on the ticket of Liberty Party, congratulated NEC on the decision followed by the Supreme Court’s ruling against Kamara, saying he hopes that it serves as caveat to Polson-Mappy not to register.
“I hope my sister Selena Polson-Mappy will take cue from Abu Kamara’s rejection and forget about participating in the election.”
“It is a sad thing but the law should be respected,” he said.
Polson-Mappy, who firstly contested in the 2011 legislative election in the district on the ticket of Unity Party but lost to incumbent Adam Bill Corneh of the National Patriotic Party, won the party’s primary last month, defeating Silas Tokpa.
Despite winning the primary, Polson-Mappy’s name was omitted from the party’s provisional listing submitted to NEC.
According to Unity Party’s Bong County chairman Robert Flomo Womba, the decision to omit Polson-Mappy’s name was that the party didn’t want to come in conflict with the CoC.
The ruling Unity Party has publicly sated through its National Assistant Secretary General Mo Ali that the party will respect the CoC.
“It was not only Selena Polson-Mappy’s name that was omitted from the party’s provisional list.”
They are over ten persons who are still working in government and aspiring to contest.
So, the party deemed it necessary to omit their names to avoid running in conflict with NEC as we have seen in the case of Abu Kamara,” Womba told FrontPage Africa.
Deadline looms
Polson-Mappy’s desire to contest is attracting so many concerns in the district with the deadline of candidates’ registration draws to an end Friday, July 21, 2017.
Besides, Polson-Mappy is still serving her position as superintendent of Bong County.
Political commentator and resident of district six, Stephen Kollie, told FrontPageAfrica Thursday that they will protest any decision by NEC to register Polson-Mappy.
“We are watching to see what happens next.”
The NEC should reject Madam Selena Polson-Mappy as was done in the case of Abu Kamara. We have confidence in NEC and we believe in the wisdom of its chair Jerome Kokoya,” he said.
Attempts by FrontPageAfrica to contact Polson-Mappy on her quest proved futile. She refused to respond to text messages sent her by our reporter.
Superintendent Mappy, whose petition started the whole debate regarding the Code of Conduct could take cue from the rejection of Kamara and perhaps dare not submit registration papers to NEC.
The manner and form in which Associate Justices on the Supreme Court Bench lashed at Kamara’s lawyer for taking such case to the honorable court could serve as deterrence to other lawyers not to represent individuals who glaringly violate the CoC, according to Sondah.
Lawyers are officers of the court and are expected to advise their clients before taking up cases for litigation.
Polson-Mappy’s quest to contest in the October 2017 election began in January 2012 – three months after losing the 2011 election – when she broke ground for the construction of a women center in Salala town, electoral district six.
Since then, she has been commissioning projects for abandoned communities; paying tuitions to over 125 students she has been sponsoring and helping to empower women in the district through self-help initiatives.
In 2011, she finished third with 2, 482 amounting to 14. 5 percent of the votes.
Supt. Polson-Mappy has twice been petitioned by crossed-section of citizens to contest the district.
In June this year, a group of women in Totota under the banner Totota Women Association, petitioned Polson-Mappy to contest the representative seat of the district.
In their petition, the citizens said Polson-Mappy’s contributions to the district over the years were reasons behind their decision to petition her.
They made specific reference to the provision of scholarships to students in the district and the rehabilitation of roads.
Like Polson, Like Tehmeh?
Another person in Bong that could be affected by the CoC is district seven legislative aspirants and Deputy Minister for Administration of the Ministry of Information, Andrew Tehmeh,
Like Polson-Mappy, Tehmeh began his political journey for the district’s highest seat in 2012, with an aim to provide quality leadership for the people of the district.
Aware of the CoC, political rivals to Tehmeh in the district have been sending early caveats to NEC not to register him to avoid running into conflict with the law.
Tehmeh, who last month won the primary of the Liberia People’s Party unopposed, has been coy on his intention to contest since the rejection of Kamara last week by NEC.
Attempts by FrontPageAfrica to ascertain about his ambition have proven futile.
But the incumbent lawmaker of the district, Corpu Barclay, is praying that Tehmeh is bared by the NEC which, according to her, would pave the way for her re-election.
“Seriously, Tehmeh has been a serious contender to me since he announced his intention to contest in the district. Once he is not in the race, it will make my re-election very easy,” Barclay said.
It is now highly likely that Superintendent Polson and other politicians will have to wait a little more before realizing their ambitions of contesting for legislative seats in the future.
Although every case taken to court can be heard on its own merits but the case of Kamara no doubt represents similar facts and circumstances like the situation with many others including Superintendent Polson should they consider registering at NEC, being denied and going further to the court for possible redress.
In law, cases with similar facts and circumstances are handled using the legal doctrine of stare decision or precedent.
The Kamara case is now seen as a precedent for future cases regarding disputes arising from the Code of Conduct.