MONROVIA – The nomination of Cllr. A. Ndubusi Nwabudike was a flop, now President George Weah is closing in on naming controversial Solicitor-General, Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus, as the next chairman of the National Elections Commission to steer the affairs of this year’s midterm senatorial elections and the 2023 general and presidential elections, leaks from within the Executive Mansion unveil.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
President Weah, according to an impeccable source within the Executive Mansion, has been reviewing a list of potential candidates for the post over the past weeks with key emphasis being placed on an individual who has absolute loyalty or connection to the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
Other candidates under consideration by the President include current Montserrado County Attorney Cllr. Edwin K. Martin and Acting NEC Chairman Davidetta Browne Lansanah. However, the developments show that the President seem to be reposing more confidence in Cllr. Cephus as the best suited for the job.
The source: “We do expect Cllr. Cephus to be named any moment from now but I think politically, the President and the ruling party are weighing in on what the public response would be. They are weighing in on the public response because they believe it shapes how the Senate would go about their confirmation. However, the President is convinced that Cllr. Cephus is the right person for the job.”
Cllr. Cephus’ ties with the CDC is well known to the public having served as one of the lead lawyers for CDC. He was handsomely rewarded with the post of deputy minister for regional development at the ministry of agriculture.
Cllr. Cephus was nominated to the position of the Solicitor General after he helped government lawyers during the impeachment trial at former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Kabineh Ja’neh.
The decision to nominate Cllr. Cephus comes after Cllr. Nwabudike, known of a close associate of Cllr. Cephus, flopped at the Senate over issue of nationality.
At the confirmation hearing, the Senate uncovered several discrepancies and inconsistencies in the Cllr. Nwabudike’s resume. The Senate uncovered that the NEC chair-designate at the time had conflicting dates of birth.
In a line of questioning from Senator Johnathan Kaipay of Grand Bassa County, Cllr. Nwabudike admitted to the inconsistency in his date of birth when it was discovered that in his passport his date of birth is 1965, while his University document carried 1963.
He also failed to provide his original naturalization certificate after was he told to bring it during his first appearance.
Cllr. Nwabudike, defending his Liberian citizenship at the Senate, testified that although he was born to a naturalized Liberian father and a natural born Liberian mother, he opted to naturalize as a Liberian in 1982 at age 17 years.
Criminal Court ‘B’ at the Temple of Justice reported that there was no document in its archive of the court to prove that the rejected nominee for the National Elections Commission Liberia, Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike, is a naturalized Liberian citizen as he claims.
“Majority of those appointed commissioners lack the knowledge of election management, electoral legal framework, limited leadership or management experienced and are perceived as closed members of the ruling party which would undermine the integrity of the EMB, increase lack of citizens trust in the EMB and set the stage for electoral violence and marginalization of oppositions political parties.”
– Mr. Eddie Jarwolo, Executive Director, NAYMOTE
Reactions to the Unannounced Preferment
President Weah is yet to make the pronouncement but the leaks is already raising eyebrow within the opposition community and among civil society and election monitoring groups.
Speaking to FrontPageAfrica on the matter, Mr. Mo Ali, the assistant secretary-general of the former ruling Unity Party said, nominating and confirming Cllr. Cephus to head the country’s electoral house has the propensity to create chaos in the country. He added that Cllr. Cephus has over the years shown no sense of remorse for some of his actions that met public condemnation.
Ali: “The thought of Saymah Syrenius Cephus becoming Chairman of the National Elections Commission is a recipe for chaos. The man has got no remorse and will gladly plunge this country into anarchy by cheating very glaringly in favor of the CDC in elections. Nominating him to the NEC Chair position would mean that President Weah does not care about the stability of Liberia. We would hope that the senators will muster the courage to reject Syrenius Cephus vehemently.”
Mr. Eddie Jarwolo, a civil society activist, head of NAYMOTE Partners for Democratic Development and an election reform activist told FrontPageAfrica that the credibility and integrity of any electoral process are key to the sustenance of democracy and ensuring political stability, especially in post-conflict nation like Liberia.
He said, “As a civil society leader with over 19 years of experience and as a trained BRIDGE election practitioner it is important to appoint people on the Elections Management Body (EMB) who are perceived to be independent, competent, very experienced, conflict-sensitive and knowledgeable of the legal framework of conducting a free, fair, transparent and accountable elections. Majority of those appointed commissioners lack the knowledge of election management, electoral legal framework, limited leadership or management experienced and are perceived as closed members of the ruling party which would undermine the integrity of the EMB, increase lack of citizens trust in the EMB and set the stage for electoral violence and marginalization of oppositions political parties.”
“The thought of Saymah Syrenius Cephus becoming Chairman of the National Elections Commission is a recipe for chaos. The man has got no remorse and will gladly plunge this country into anarchy by cheating very glaringly in favor of the CDC in elections. Nominating him to the NEC Chair position would mean that President Weah does not care about the stability of Liberia. We would hope that the senators will muster the courage to reject Syrenius Cephus vehemently.”
– Mo Ali, Assistant Secretary-General, Unity Party
According to Jarwolo, the EMB will find it difficult to lobby international financial support, build citizens’ trust, conduct credible elections, avoid violence elections if those appointed don’t understand their mandates, and ensure they independently work for the Liberian people and avoid anything that could link their decisions to the ruling party or the President of Liberia.
“The legacy of President George Weah will be destroyed if the EMB fails to conduct credible and democratic elections where the results will be the will of the voters and nothing else, the world is watching,” he insisted.
The Future is Bleak
“Elections can build a nation but it can equally break it. The 1985 election in Liberia is an experience and many other examples in Africa.”
– Oscar Bloh, Chairman, Election Coordinating Committee
Also speaking on the appointment of the a chairman to the National Elections Commission, the head of the Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) cited the New Election Law which indicates that one has to be a lawyer to serve as the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission but at the same time, the position should not be occupied by any person who has demonstrated partisanship. “James Formoryan and Cllr, Jereome Korkoyah are two examples. The ECC is on record for opposing the nomination of Cllr. Korkoyah as Chair of the NEC but the Liberian Senate confirmed him,” he said.
Mr. Bloh lamented that the law on who and how a person can serve as chairperson of the NEC is very weak. He said any President who believes in participatory democracy and respect for the rule of law will not appoint his/her partisan or loyalist to a commission that is to be independent and neutral.
“Membership on the Board of Commissioners of the NEC, especially the Chairperson should be a man or woman of integrity, non-partisan, demonstrated administrative skills, clean human rights record,” he said.
According to Mr. Bloh, a country’s peace is fragile and anyone who will serve as the Chairperson of the NEC should be someone that the political parties and voters will trust.
He said, “Elections can build a nation but it can equally break it. The 1985 election in Liberia is an experience and many other examples in Africa.
“The oversight arm of our national governance structure is weak. Our legislators are responsible for most of the problems we experienced in the past and continue to experience. The future is bleak”.
A Litany of Transgressions
Syrenius Cephus was, among other things, allegedly involved in a gold scandal (selling fake gold to clients). He was arrested, charged, and handcuffed when Cllr. Samuel Jacobs was serving as County Attorney and Cllr. M. Wilkins Wright as Solicitor General.
He was suspended by the Supreme Court from practicing law for three months (April 7, 2015 to July 7, 2015) after he was found guilty of misconduct and for misleading his clients. The Court described his action as “contemptuous” and “grave”.
Cllr. Cephus was arrested and jailed on charges of sedition, criminal libel, and malevolence in December 2009 after accusing ex-President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of supplying arms to dissident forces in Guinea. He spewed out such wild claim and boldfaced lie in an effort to extort.