Gbarnga, Bong County – Rep. Marvin Cole, the candidate of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Thursday congratulated the senator-elect of Bong County, Dr. Henrique Tokpa.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
Tokpa emerged victorious in Tuesday’s by-election, accumulating 27,808 votes compared to 20,982 for Cole.
Cole called on his supporters to remain calm and embrace Tokpa as their next senator, replacing Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, who ran a divisive campaign, calling Tokpa “too old’’ to serve as senator and accused the former Cuttington University president of being only interested in saving money for his retirement.
“I want to call on my supporters to remain calm in the midst of NEC’s provisional results,” he said. ‘’Whoever wins the election will be our senator.”
Cole became a lawmaker last October when he won the District three seat. He called his loss a blessing in disguise.
“We fought a good fight,’’ he said. ‘’The citizens have spoken. We will live with the results to move our county forward.”
Cole thanked those who voted for him in the by-election.
Citizens in Bong and Montserrado counties went to the polls on July 31 to elect a new senator to replace Taylor and President George Weah.
Cole, a former staffer in Taylor’s office, was appointed mayor of Gbarnga in January 2017. Three months later, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf dismissed him for demolishing people’s homes, a violation of the city’s ordinance.
Cole defeated George Mulbah of the People’s Unification Party, attaining 23.2 percent of the 5,889 votes compared to Mulbah’s 1,876 or 7.4 percent of the vote in a race comprising 15 candidates.
“Six months ago, no one knew that Marvin Cole could have stood up and put up a huge challenge like the one we are seeing today,’’ he said, referring to the senate race. ‘’I am grateful to every one of you people for standing up to support the CDC.’’
He called on county leaders to unite for the collective interest of the county.
“It is time we as leaders put our differences aside and unite to develop the county,’’ he said. ‘’I strongly feel Bong County won the election.’’
Dr. Tokpa received the support of the county’s six lawmakers. The lawmakers banded under the banner: “Majority bloc,” a move that caused citizens to believe that the county was divided going into the by-election.
Cole hopes he and his colleagues can move on now that the election is over.
“I strongly believe that my colleagues took their side because they have the constitutional right to do so,’’ Cole said. ‘’Now that the elections are over, we will now work as a team to deliver.’’
Dr. Tokpa received congratulatory message from Prince Kollie, of the Vision of Liberia Party.
Speaking on Radio Gbarnga’s Breakfast Show, Kollie urged citizens to accept the results and work to push the county forward.
“The citizens have spoken,” he said. “We will live with the results to move our county forward.”
Kollie said Tokpa should see his election as a turning point to reconcile the caucus.
“This is a litmus test for the county legislative caucus,” Kollie said.” They should use this time to unite.”
Bong citizens also called for unity in the interest of the development of the county. Some citizens said they hope Tokpa will work with caucus members to ensure that the Bong County Community College is completed.
The construction of the college started in 2010, but was never completed though the county spent $7 million in County and Social Development Fund (CSDF). Former President Sirleaf halted the construction because the funds were mismanaged.
Jerry Benson, who lives in District Three, said the development of the county should be a paramount concern to the caucus.
“Our citizens have been learning in an unfinished building which is bad for them,’’ he said, referring to the unfinished college. ‘’We want our caucus to unite for the completion of the college.’’
Benson said Cole lost because citizens were outraged that he entered the senate race at a time when the ruling party continues to say that they inherited a broke country.
Cole has only been a representative for seven months. Citizens were upset that the CDC would put up a candidate that would create another vacancy in the House at a time when the government is crying broke.
Benson called on Cole to focus on fulfilling the promises he made to citizens of District Three.
“All is not lost with Cole,’’ Mulbah said. “He just needs to pay attention to District Three and fulfill the campaign promises he made. I believe he has more time to win back favor from citizens of the district.”
Beatrice Singbey, a resident of District Three and a member of the CDC, called on partisans to reflect on why they lost and prepare for the 2020 senatorial election.
“We should now be thinking about winning one of the senate seats,” she said. “All is not lost.”
Elizabeth Kerkula, a supporter of Cole, said the representative put up a good fight.
“Cole has shown that he is a very strong political figure by the fact that he won his district and put up a strong fight in all the 13 districts,” she said.
Tokpa said he is optimistic that he will be the next senator of Bong.
Tokpa ran for the senate seat against Taylor in 2014 and lost. Howard-Taylor received 13, 672 compared to Tokpa’s 11, 737 votes.
Tokpa agreed with citizens that he should focus his energy on uniting county leaders and advocate for the county in the Legislature.