Monrovia — A former Representative Candidate from the 2023 Representative Election in Grand Bassa County Electoral District #5 C. Juah S. Dennis is calling on the National Election Commission (NEC) to revoke the certificate of Representative Thomas Goshua or risk unspecified action from the people of District #5 in Grand Bassa County.
By J.H. Webster Clayeh (0886729972)[email protected]
Last month the Supreme Court issued an order for a recount of all the ballots cast in District #5, Grand Bassa County during the October 10 legislative election.
She contested against Representative Thomas Goshua. Thereafter, a request for a recount was made after Madam Dennis of the Unity Party (UP) highlighted specific precincts including the Old Camp, Zono Town, and Gbowee precincts as areas that experienced electoral irregularities.
She claimed that voters were denied their right to vote in the Zono precinct as the supervisor closed the center after 6 p.m., even though many voters were still waiting in line. She also raised concerns about polling places in the Old Camp, Zono, and Gbowee areas where she alleged that voters were denied entry and police were called to remove voters from their areas.
Speaking with journalists in Monrovia, Madam said when her team went for the recount, she noticed that all the boxes were broken in.
“Some of them had a seal on it, the seal number was different from that of the one NEC gave to us on October 10. Some of the boxes were tapped. When we brought that to the attention of NEC, they said that it was because of a bad road. They said that those boxes will be quarantined until after the recount,” she said.
Madam Dennis added: “They (NEC) told us that we were going to have five counting areas. When we went there, they said they were adding an additional five areas to make the number 10. Those boxes that were quarantined, surprisingly NEC took those boxes without acknowledging us.”
The recount process she says started on the 23 and ended on the 25 of January 2024. After the recount she explains that a bill of complaint was filed to the magistrate in Grand Bassa but was advised to come to NEC central office.
“They (NEC) denied the bill of information on the grounds that the case was not before them and that the case was before the Supreme Court. We made a formal complaint at NEC because it was a new finding. So, we filed a formal complaint at NEC, they received the complaint and they signed for it, but NEC went ahead and certified Thomas Goshua while our complaint is pending at NEC without going through the case,” she said.
Madam Dennis added: “Because NEC is in some deals, when we go, they just push us around. I want to make it very clear here today that the peace and the stability of Grand Bassa County Electoral District #5 is in the hands of NEC because our people will not take anything less than what they voted for. If NEC does not hear this case, they will have themselves to blame because we will not take it easy. There will be no peace in electoral district #5 until our case is heard.”
“After the recounting, we noticed so many things. During the recount, we noticed that in some of the areas where 300 persons voted but when we went for the recount it came down to 259. So, 41 votes were short. When we went to another area, we had five votes added to the total votes. They were raised and fell in different polling centers and ballot boxes. All these areas that were in our complaint to NEC all that boxes were broken and no serial number on them.”