Ganta, Nimba County – Lincoln Danuah, 34, sells scratch cards on Ganta’s main street. Thursday, he was angry when he heard a report on Radio Kerghemahn about Senator Prince Y. Johnson endorsement of George Weah, standard bearer of the Coalition for Democratic Change.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
Danuah is a staunch supporter of Johnson, considered a king maker in presidential elections and the father of Nimba County, which has the second highest number of registered voters —279, 572, following Montserrado with 777, 503 registered voters.
Weah and Vice President Joseph Boakai, standard bearer of the Unity Party, have been courting Johnson.
Thursday, Danuah said he backed Johnson when he supported Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the 2011 run-off election.
In 2017, he will not back Johnson in his support for Weah and the CDC.
“I think it is about time the people of Nimba County decide where to go than to be remote control by Senator Johnson,” he said.
“I will be moved by my conscience.”
Of the 279, 572 registered voters in Nimba, 200, 791 voted on Oct. 10.
In Nimba, Johnson received 53.5 percent or 107, 430 of the votes in Nimba, followed by Joseph Boakai with 39, 964 or 19.9 percent.
The CDC finished third with 16,002 or 8.0 percent of the votes.
Weah finished top during the first round of election with 596,037 or 38. 4 per cent followed by Boakai’s 446, 716 or 28.8 percent.
Rebecca McGill, 32, agrees with Danuah that citizens should make up their own minds, not follow Johnson.
McGill, lives in Gbatu quarter community in Ganta. She travels between the Liberia-Guinea borders for trade.
She voted for Johnson in the first round, but she won’t be supporting the CDC based on the senator’s endorsement.
Citizens of Nimba are not Prince Johnson’s ‘’commodities,’’ she said.
“We are wise people who are independent and it is time we proof that to Senator Johnson,” McGill said.
“Nimba County is not anyone’s property.”
Nimbians, she said, must reject Weah. Nimbians love Johnson and have a lot of respect for him, but McGill plans to mount a campaign against the CDC, now supported by Johnson.
Jerry Gwena, a first-time voter, who supports the Unity Party, said Johnson’s decision has made the path easier for Vice President Boakai to win Nimba County.
Nimbians, he said, are worried about the long-standing feud between their county and Grand Gedeh, which overwhelmingly supported Weah in the first round.
Senator Weah won Grand Gedeh in the first round of the election 29, 723 or 75.0 percent of the votes while Boakai obtained 3, 827 of the votes which amounted to 9.7 per cent of the votes.
“There has not been a time Nimba and Grand Gedeh supported a single political party, so what Senator Johnson is doing is for him and his family,” Gwena said.
Other citizens support Johnson. They say his endorsement of Weah is a boost for the CDC.
Patience Halagoe, 24, a beautician in Ganta, voted for the Alex Cummings and Jeremiah Sulunteh of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), in the first round.
Johnson is the ‘face of Nimba County and what he says must be respected, she said.
“Every county has their hero and Senator Johnson is our hero, Halagoe said. We will follow him and do what he wants us to do in the runoff.’’
Johnson’s decision, she said, will help to reconcile Nimba and Grand Gedeh, two counties that have been at odds with each other since Senator Johnson’s murdered former president Samuel Doe during the civil war.
“We need to put aside the bitter past and move ahead, if we truly want peace in Liberia,” she said. “Senator George Weah is a Liberian and we must embrace him for the sake of peace.”
Obediah Dah, a commercial motorcyclist, 23, said he supports the senator’s endorsement of Weah.
“Our father has spoken and it is over. We will support the CDC because of him,” he said.
Marcus Ben, 42, the manager of a local restaurant who voted for Johnson in the first round, said Senator’s decision to support CDC is the beginning of a new dawn in Liberia’s history because it will unify the country.