Monrovia – Heads of two distant religious groups have joined forces to call for the unconditional recusal of the Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Cllr. Jerome Korkoya, from the on-going electoral process.
Report by Henry Karmo, [email protected]
Rev. Dr. Olu Menjay, president of the Liberian Baptist Missionary and Education Convention and Sheikh Ali Krayee, National Chief Imam of Liberia, in a statement said the decision for Cllr. Korkoya to recuse himself will elevate the confidence of ordinary people and contending parties in the electoral process.
The pair, in their statement, also assured Liberians that the legal process is in the right direction and have encouraged all parties involved to pursue the legal path, which they believe is among best options.
Imam Krayee and Rev. Menjay, in further comments said, they appreciate the overwhelming participation of Liberians in the electoral process.
“The huge turnout is a testimony of their will to democratically elect their next leader.”
“We also thank our international partners for their contribution to the democratic process thus far.”
They religious leaders claimed that five months ago they registered their concerns relating to the voters registration exercise when the chairman of the Elections Commission had earlier stated that anyone in possession of a voters card would be allowed to vote in the elections.
“We immediately said his statement on the matter was a recipe for confusion. “
“Our concerns and dissatisfaction on his statement were aired on UNMIL radio in June 2017. Hence, after numeral public outcries, Cllr. Korkoya retracted his statement.”
“Unfortunately, his retraction did not match the reality on October 10.”
“It is important to note that the bedrock of any credible election marks a certified voter registry. To our many dismay, the voter registry was incomprehensive at many polling places.”
The two clerics in their statement further said, the fact that issues raised several months to the elections were not resolved before the October 10th polls proves that the huge number of invalid votes is a clear indication that voter’s education was poorly executed.
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