Gbarnga, Bong County – Deputy House Speaker Prince Moye has admitted he knew the standard bearer of Unity Party Joseph Boakai couldn’t win the 2017 presidential elections because of the disenchantments expressed by Liberians during campaign activities.
Appearing on a live radio talk-show on Radio Gbarnga, a local radio station in Bong County, on August 24, which was aired on several community radio stations in Bong County, Moye said, while on campaign trails in 2017 he noticed Liberians were tired with the Unity Party 12-year rule but couldn’t express those disenchantments to Boakai. “Everywhere we went in 2017 the people told us that if it is your re-election no problem but don’t bring your Joseph Boakai election to us because we are tired with Unity Party,” Moye said.
Moye also admitted that despite their plans to introduce cash in the tone of LD$ 200,000 to 300,000 to women groups in Bong County to influence their decision to vote Unity Party, it proved difficult. “When the Unity Party served 12 years and we could see that on their faces during the campaign. I knew that Joseph Boakai couldn’t win but we had to spend the money. We gave women groups LD$200,000 but it couldn’t influence anything because people said they were tired with Unity Party,” Moye said.
The confession by Moye came as the result of a question asked by the host of the talk-show as to if he (Moye) is not being deceived by residents of the county amid his intention to contest the Senate race in Bong County in December. In his response, Moye said: “Unlike the 2017 campaign we ran for Joseph Boakai in Bong County, I see smiles on the faces of people everywhere I go in the county. They are using their own money to support the process unlike the 2017 campaign when we used cash to influence the voters in Bong County and it didn’t work. The people are telling me they are tired with the incumbent senator,” Moye said.
Since then, Moye has come under a barrage of criticisms from partisans of Unity Party in the county, with many attributing his confession to reasons why the party failed to win the 2017 presidential elections.
“Moye is not sincere. I was shocked by what I heard this morning on Radio Gbarnga. Moye has shown to us that he can’t be trusted,” said Peter Fineboy, a partisan of Unity Party. Fineboy said though he is a member of Unity Party he won’t support the Senate bid of Moye because of what he thinks was his insincerity to Boakai during the 2017 presidential elections. “If Moye knew all those things were playing against the Unity Party why didn’t he make it known to us but instead he concealed it and allowed the party to dish out cash with the notion that all was well. This is a complete disservice to Boakai,” Fineboy said.
Arthur Kollie, a resident of Gbarnga and partisan of Unity Party, described Moye as “insincere political character” whose support for Unity Party is questionable based on his silence on critical national issues. “I have never trusted the loyalty of Moye to Unity Party despite him being the biggest opposition member in the government on his current status. He has never spoken on critical national issue since his ascendency as deputy speaker. I strongly feel he is in bed with the regime,” he added.
The Deputy Speaker is also facing charges of bad labor practices on his farm in his native Maino Wainsue, Jorquelleh District Two. The former town chief of the town, Peter Binda, claimed residents of the town are being forced to work on the farm of Moye Wednesday of each week with a reward of LD$250.00. Binda, who claimed he worked on the farm for six weeks, had to resign because of what he described as bad labor practice being practiced on the farm. “I couldn’t stand the work being offered for LD$250 so I resigned but few members of the town are being hired to work on the deputy speaker’s farm for that amount,” he said.
Efforts to reach to Moye Thursday proved unsuccessful. Text messages were sent to his media consultant Mohammed Kwenah without reply. But Moye in his response to the Independent Probe newspaper on the claims levied by Binda, said: “People are working on my farm but they are not being paid that amount being claimed by Binda.”
