Gbartala & Gbarnga, Bong County – Former fighters of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) in Bong County have endorsed the candidacy of Menikpakei Dumoe, the only candidate in the Bong County Senate election contesting with an agenda tied to the release of the former Liberian president.
Taylor is still a household name in Bong politics since he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for crimes committed in neighboring Sierra Leone. Dumoe said Taylor should be released to ensure peace and stability in West Africa.
In Bong, Taylor formed an unofficial government in 1991. Residents in the county still prefer the Taylors years because rice – the nation’s staple – cheap to afford.
They also believed Taylor made life easier for them, provided employment opportunities through the establishment of a farm in Melekie, along the Gbarnga-Monrovia highway. It is because of such, many residents are still heeding back to the old days.
Dumoe’s quest for the release of the former Liberian leader appears to be giving some sense of hoping to scores of Taylor’s supporters in Bong, especially ex-fighters of both NPFL and ATU.
In Gbartala, former headquarters of Taylor’s personal army, the Anti Terrorists (Unit ATU), Foday Peters, a 43-year-old ex-combatant who fought for Taylor from 1991-2000, said his support for Dumoe is because of the loyalty he still holds for the former Liberian president.
Peters, known as General Death during the wars, said Dumoe’s quest for the release of Charles Taylor may look ambitious to some people, but electing him as senator of Bong County would give him an opportunity to lobbying with other stakeholders to ensure Taylor is release. “This is the reason why I am canvassing for Dumoe because his agenda to fight for the release of Charles Taylor is a realistic one. Electing him as senator will give him an opportunity,” Peters said.
Archieboy Doe, a renowned ex-General of Taylor’s ATU who fought for Taylor from 1994-2000, said it was now time the people of Bong rally behind Dumoe to ensure Taylor is set free. He labels Dumoe’s “Free Taylor” campaign message as the best among candidates vying for the Senate race, promising to tour the nook and crannies of the county to ensure Dumoe is elected senator of Bong.
“I am already a member of Dumoe campaign team. I am one of the beneficiaries of Charles Taylor era as a former fighter of the ATU that’s why I am campaigning for Dumoe. It’s time for all those in Bong County show Taylor commitment by supporting Dumoe for the Senate in the county,” he said. Asked why he thinks Taylor’s former wife, Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, with all the power available to her can’t release her former husband and Dumoe can, he replied: “Jewel is being suppressed in this government that’s why she hasn’t been afforded the time; but I believed that if Dumoe is elected senator he would help the vice president in releasing Charles Taylor,” he said.
Thomas Flomo, a 36-year-old ex-fighter of Taylor’s NPFL, says the former Liberian president still hold a special place in his heart and voting for Dumoe is a demonstration of the ‘love’ he has for Taylor. “I feel proud associating with anything that carries the name “Charles Taylor”. Whether Dumoe will release Charles Taylor if he wins the Senate election or not, I am voting for him because he means well for Charles Taylor,” he said.
Flomo took a dig at Howard-Taylor for not seeking the release for Taylor despite being a vice president. “This is what we expect the vice president to be pushing but she has remained silent since her election in 2017. This was one of the reasons why we voted for the Coalition for Democratic Change but to date nothing has been done,” he said.
“I feel proud associating with anything that carries the name “Charles Taylor”. Whether Dumoe will release Charles Taylor if he wins the Senate election or not, I am voting for him because he means well for Charles Taylor.”
– Thomas Flomo, 36-Year-Old Ex-Fighter
“Free Taylor” campaign elevates Dumoe’s status
Dumoe has gone from being an underdog to a major candidate in Bong since joining the Senate race four months ago – thanks to his “Free Charles Taylor” campaign. In Gbarnga and other key cities, Dumoe continues to receive endorsements from stakeholders, with many pledging support because of his ambition to release Taylor from prison.
It is believed the National Patriotic Party, the party that propelled Taylor to the presidency in 1997 and also a constituent party of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, is supporting Dumoe’s candidacy. Also, key members of Howard-Taylor’s office recently endorsed Dumoe’s bid, sending a strong message that the vice president is secretly supporting his bid for the Senate.
Charles Taylor and Bong politics
Associating with the former Liberian president has become a risky political gamble during elections in Liberia and yet Dumoe understands that the name Charles Taylor still plays magic in some quarter in Bong County.
In a fiercely contested senatorial election in 2014, Taylor’s ex-wife now vice president of Liberia, Jewel Howard-Taylor, made significant political strife using a purported voice recording of her ex-husband to rally the support of Taylor’s ex-fighters.
An hour to the end of political campaign activities, Howard-Taylor released an audio that was broadcast on Radio Gbarnga, a local radio station in Bong, which she claimed was the voice of her ex-husband. She claimed her former husband had a “special” message for the people in Bong. In the one-minute audio, the purported Charles Taylor said: “I am Charles Ghankay Taylor, speaking to the people of Bong County from The Hague. I want to urge the people of Bong County, most especially my many supporters who still believe in me, to vote for my former wife, Jewel Howard-Taylor. Voting for Jewel would enable her fight for my release from prison.”
