Voinjama, Lofa County – A Unity Party wave in 2011 in Lofa County helped George Tengbeh from being the administrative assistant to former Lofa County superintendent Galakpai Kortema to the Senate. Now, he has to rely substantially on what he has done in the county in the last nine years.
When Tengbeh was voted into power in 2011, he was seen as a political neophyte. It is believed he secured the job on the strength of Unity Party and its current political leader, Joseph Boakai, whom many regard as the face of Lofa politics. But Tengbeh has parted ways with Boakai and Unity Party and defected to the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
The outcome of previous presidential elections in the county has attested to the fact that Lofa is the stronghold of Unity Party. During the 2005 presidential elections, Unity Party obtained 26, 875 votes, which amounted to 60. 2 per cent of the total votes compared to Congress for Democratic Change’s 17, 733, which amounted to 39.8 percent of the total votes.
Also, during the 2017 presidential elections, Unity Party obtained 79, 258 votes, amounting to 84 per cent of the votes, while President George Weah’s CDC secured 14, 860, which amounted to 15 percent of the total votes.
A popular journalist in Lofa, Arthur Korwah, thinks the acceptability of Unity Party in the county might become another albatross to the re-election effort of the senator. Korwah said Tengbeh appears to be in the toughest spot of all Coalition for Democratic Change candidates facing re-elections, and his defection to the ruling CDC appears to make matters difficult.
“Tengbeh is running for re-election in a county known to the the stronghold of the Unity Party, so that’s a calculated political risk,” said journalist Korwah.
Tengbeh’s re-election divides Foya
The re-election bid of the incumbent is said to have divided major blocs among the Kissi speaking people, one of the largest tribes in the county. In fact, Foya, the most populated district in the county with approximately 75,000 people, according to the 2011 census.
Tengbeh was the lone candidate to have emerged from Foya District in 2011, one of the main factors that played in his favor as he won ninety percent of the votes from the region from an election of more than seven candidates.
A group under the banner “Professional Friends of Tengbeh (PFT)” made up of close friends of Tengbeh has declared total support for him, angering other political blocs in Foya, who feel the CDC candidate does not merit their support judging by his performance as senator in terms of service delivery to the people.
Kicking against the adoption of Tengbeh as candidate of the CDC, another group, Concerned Coalition Members (CCM), a group of partisans of the CDC, accused the (PFT) of supporting the incumbent for their selfish gains.
In a statement, the spokesperson for (CCM), Stephen Fayiah, said they were worried about the future of democracy in Foya as the result of recent developments.
Fayiah claimed members of PFT, who are bent on supporting Tengbeh, had collected huge sums of money to support Tengbeh.
What seems to be another hurdle for Tengbeh is the multiplicity of aspirants emerging from Foya. To date, there are four natives of the area who have declared their intentions to contest the race. They include former Defense Minister, Brownie Samukai of Unity Party, UK-based Lofian (citizen of Lofa) Tamba Aghaillas and Gordon Nyumah Moiwalla, all of whom have been putting up a strong fight and are drawing strong support from their kinsmen in Foya.
The challenge for Tengbeh is even compounded by the presence of two-term lawmaker of District Four, Mariamu Fofana, who has drawn support from massive support from her Mandingo ethnic group in the last two elections.
Nevertheless, Tengbeh is believed to have done well in the area of youth empowerment through his tuition schemes that have benefited many residents across Foya and other parts of the county. He recently made available a consignment of medical equipment to the Telewonyon Memorial Hospital in Voinjama District and the Curran Hospital in Zorzor District.
But, whether these would be enough to guarantee him a second chance is another matter.
How the senator hopes to win re-election in Lofa County without the support of Boakai and Unity Party remains to be seen.
