Gbarnga, Bong County – Three lawmakers of Bong County who supported the senatorial bid of outgoing senator Henry Yallah seem to be plotting against the ambition of Rep. Moima Briggs-Mensah to become Deputy Speaker of the 54th National Legislature.
The position became vacant after the current Deputy Speaker and District Two lawmaker, Prince Moye, won was declared winner of the Senate race in Bong.
Rep Briggs-Mensah, who supported Moye during the election, has declared her ambition to fill the soon-to-be vacant Deputy Speaker position.
It seems three lawmakers in Bong County apparently angry at Rep Briggs-Mensah’s role in the just-ended election in the county are resolved to campaign against her in reprisal.
One person is Rep Edward Karfiah, lawmaker of Bong’s District Five, who supported Yallah, said he won’t support Rep Briggs-Mensah’s ambition because of her role played in the just ended election in Bong.
“You can’t campaign against my friend Henry Yallah and expect me to support you for the position of Deputy Speaker,” Rep Karfiah said in reference to Rep Briggs-Mensah’s role in the December 8 Special Senatorial Election in the county.
Continuing, he added: “The just-ended senatorial election in Bong left so many scars and I can’t pretend that I don’t feel hurt by Rep Moima Briggs-Mensah’s role during the process and as such I won’t support her ambition to become Deputy Speaker.”
Another lawmaker against Rep Briggs-Mensah’s Deputy Speaker ambition is Rep Marvin Cole, lawmaker of electoral district three, who served as campaign manager of Yallah. It’s believed Cole is one person already campaigning against Briggs-Mensah’s ambition.
FrontPageAfrica has gathered that Cole has convinced two additional representatives from Bong to campaign against the District Six lawmaker as a reprisal to her role played during the December 8 Special Senatorial Election in the county.
Bitter aftermath
The December 8 Senate race has left a bitter aftermath with the county increasingly becoming polarized. Residents are still divided as well as leaders of the county.
As of yet, some of the lawmakers who supported Yallah, including Karfiah, Cole and the outgoing senator are yet to congratulate Moye on his election.
Though Moye has promised to unite the county, Karfiah believes the Senator-elect statement runs contrary to his actions since he won the election.
In an interview with FrontPageAfrica, Karfiah said he won’t congratulate Moye because “his election could further divide the county”. “Why should I congratulate Moye when he is threatening people who didn’t support him”?
Moye has been criticized for his post-election interview on Super Bongese, a local radio station in the county, for referring to former senator Franklin Siakor and former Liberian Ambassador to the United States of America – two persons who opposed his Senate bid – as “perceived leaders” of the county.
According to many residents, such a statement was not in the spirit of reconciliation.