Apparently most Liberians have forgotten about the fraudulent nature that characterized both the 2005 and 2011 Presidential elections by the National Elections Commission.
Many elections workers/supervisors were caught red-handed with pre-marked ballots for Unity Party. These NEC supervisors were distributing these premarket ballots in favor of the Unity Party to junior poll watchers to be placed in ballot boxes with other ballots.
Many of the poll watchers took many of the pre-marked ballots to CDC Representatives to report how their supervisors told them to place the ballots marked in favor of the Unity Party into ballot boxes.
At hundreds of polling/voting stations throughout the country, votes cast/counted at those centers far exceeded the number of registered voters that were supposed to vote at those designated voting precincts. Sometimes the votes/ballots counted far exceeded the number of registered voters for that center by hundreds of votes.
CDC complaints to the NEC were ignored as did requests by CDC to have the votes recounted.
Years later to validate the CDC claims of the rigged 2005 elections, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf herself sort of affirmed and said that most women voters voted more than once after seizing their children or “buying” their children voter registration cards with either money or food. She made the confession of all places here in America at the historic black Abysennian Baptist Church in Harlem during a program. President Sirleaf told the gathering the women told her because they wanted a woman President.
We fast forward to the bloody and deadly 2011 elections that the NEC documented in a signed letter to the CDC and that led to the shooting deaths by Liberian Police of some CDC supporters.
It is worth noting that CDC led in both first rounds of voting in 2005 and 2011.
In the preliminary results in 2011, CDC shutout the ruling Unity Party.
In a signed letter by then National Elections Commission Chairman James Fromoyan and delivered to CDC headquarters, the letter indicated that the votes were switched, giving CDC’S first place votes to the Unity Party and the second place votes of the UP to the CDC.
CDC then began to claim victory and demanded a recount of the votes but which the NEC refused to allow. Thus, this universal fundamental right in disputed elections outcome for a recount request to the NEC was never granted the CDC.
CDC then planned a protest. As they assembled at their headquarters that November morning, Police Director Marc Armblard ordered his heavily armed Riots Squad Police to the CDC headquarters to put down/contain any protest.
In the presence of journalists and UN Peacekeepers, Liberian Police opened fire, shot and killed a number of CDC members. CDC thereafter boycotted the planned runoff and Ellen “won” by default.
A Presidential Task Force set up by President Ellen Johnson Ellen placed squarely the deaths of the CDC members on the Liberia National Police and its Director, Marc Armblard. But the Police Chief was never prosecuted.
Instead, for his crackdown violence against the CDC, Armblard was rewarded with a $150, 000,00 “contract” to do “security consultancy” at Roberts International Airport.
And with this record of elections fraud and violence by government Police, does anyone in their right mind think CDC will “win” in order to ask for recount of the votes in 2005 and 2011? Over the Oldma’s dead body.
Thus, CDC needs to talk coalition talk with Joe Boakai who Ellen is not supporting and then drop the NPP. But who am I to tell the CDC what to do. Experience is the best teacher. Good luck.
And now you know why this new quasi body Ellen is setting up to be chaired by her partner Amos Sawyer that will overshadow the NEC.
The NEC is the supreme authority on all elections related matters, established by law/statute of the Legislature, Remember both Ellen and Sawyer were instrumental in the ACDL that gave birth to the NPFL.
This is a redo of ACDL Two to turn it over Charles Brumskine and bring in foreign troops to install Brumskine. Da me say so.
Jerry Wehtee Wion,
Journalist and Political Commentator
Washington, DC, USA