Monrovia – Bernard “Dj Blue” Benson may not have won the 2018 Montserrado County Senatorial By-election. However, it seems the media mogul has already dust himself up, recouped his losses and is gearing up for the midterm senatorial elections in 2020.
Report by Gboko J. Stewart, Contributor, [email protected]
Benson, who came in second during the senatorial by-election with 25% of the tallied votes or 25,237 and lost to Saah Hardy Joseph of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, was over the weekend in the Wood Camp community of Paynesville to thank his supporters who stood by him during the elections.
Donating 20 bags of 25kg rice and $20,000 LD, Benson dropped the ball that he is going to be a formidable force in the 2020 senatorial midterm elections. “I made it clear already that I’m going to be a formidable force in 2020,” he highlighted. “Despite—I ran with the same challenges—I don’t see it any different.”
Addressing his supporters, Benson said the 2017 by-elections was an uphill battle for him as the stacked odds were many but he was able to emerge in the second position and yet, he is not going to rest on his laurels.
“God was behind us—we were fighting the power, we were fighting money, we were fighting big positions; but God brought us second.”
Benson’s foray in the by-elections in Montserrado County as an independent candidate rattled many, including the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), which considers the county as its stronghold. For Benson, it is an impetus which is his launch pad for his senatorial bid in 2020 as he does not see Montserrado County as the stronghold of any institution.
“Fear no one but God. CDC ran two or three times before they got to state power. There’s nothing—if you believe in what you believe in—there’s absolutely nothing to fear.”
He mentioned that his opponents to his 2020 senatorial bid should be wary as voters are beginning to make sense of his platform. “They should be aware that I am coming back in 2020. I think we won a lot harder. I think people are seeing much more sense in my platform than they did before.”
He further called on voters not to be fooled and carried away by the allure and the antics of politicians branding themselves on buses and ambulances during campaign periods, which are later parked after elections and then the harsh reality sets in.
“One of our lawmakers paraded around here with buses during the elections and right after the elections, those buses are parked. That is deceit—that is wrong!”
Benson stressed that his platform of using tourism to create job and promote Liberia’s culture, entertainment and creative industries remains the same and nothing is going to alter it.