Monrovia – Officials in Liberia are raising fears that some ballot boxes making their way to rural parts of the country may not get to some parts of the country by voting day Tuesday.
A senior security official confirmed to FrontPageAfrica Saturday that a back line of traffic in the capital has left cars stranded for several hours.
The opposition Alternative National Congress held its rally Saturday at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium while the ruling Unity Party also held a closing rally at its headquarters in Congo Town.
Earlier in the day supporters of the ANC braved massive rains to storm the ATS in its launch in the nation’s capitol.
Prior to Saturday, the National Elections Commission urged the ruling party to reconsider having its rally on the same day as the ANC after the ANC launched a complaint, telling NEC that the ruling party was raining on its parade.
ANC accused UP of exerting undue influence on the electoral process to deny other parties the right to freely associate and to get their message out.
The ANC also accused the UP of using incumbency power to subdue the opposition adding that the party and its Standard Bearer, Alexander Cummings are in accordance with the National Elections Commission (NEC) regulations.
Mr. Augustine Ngafuan, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and now chair of the Joseph Boakai presidential campaign posted on his Facebook page last week that the party was holding a closing rally on the same date, October 7, 2017 as the ANC, describing the day as a massive pre victory and thanksgiving rally.
“We are going to close with a massive pre victory and thanksgiving rally on Saturday, October 7, 2017 at the SKD Sports Complex,” Ngafuan said.
As late as mid night Saturday, supporters of the ANC were seen walking toward the Paynesville side of town as several pileups blocked traffic for several miles.
Motorists from the Paynesville area were piled up from the Congo Town belt near the residence of former President Charles Taylor while those coming from downtown Monrovia are being trapped on the other side of town.
Supporters of the ruling party parked cars on the main streets, causing traffic delays.
One senior official laid the blame on the elections commission for not announcing the dates for each party’s rally. UP, long with Liberty Party and the Coalition for Democratic Change had previously launched their campaigns in the county.
One motorist told FrontPageAfrica she was stuck in the traffic for nearly nine hours.
“They actually blocked the road. Can you believe this? I got home 12:45 am. I got stuck at the Nigerian Embassy at 4:pm. How can leaders be so insensitive.”
UP officials claimed that contrary to claims made by ANC, it had requested the October 7 date from NEC prior to the ANC’s announcement.
Several security officials confirmed to FrontPageAfrica that ballot boxes have as of Saturday night not made their way through the traffic making it likely that they might not reached their destinations.
Heavy rains this time of the year usually make most routes nearly impossible to reach spurring reigniting for the election date to be postponed during the dry season due to the difficulties voters face to register to during the period allotted.