Gbarnga, Bong County – Independent Candidate Dr. Henrique Tokpa is cruising to victory in the Bong County senatorial by-election as shown in the results released so far by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
Preliminary results released by NEC put Tokpa ahead with 13, 998 votes which amounted to 45.5 percent over his closest rival Josiah Marvin Cole of the Coalition for Democratic Change who accumulated 13, 038.
The results covered 236 of the 267 polling places in Upper Bong County, according to National Elections Commission’s magistrate for Upper Bong, Daniel Newland.
Cole was the preferred candidate of President George Mannah Weah and Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor. Both pledged their support for the District Three lawmaker.
If Tokpa, who was beaten by Howard-Taylor in the 2014 senatorial election, wins Tuesday’s by-election, it will be a victory for three of Liberia’s largest opposition political parties –The Alternative National Congress (ANC), Liberty Party (LP) and Unity Party (UP) – who endorsed his candidacy during the peak of the campaign in Bong.
It will also be a victory for five members of the Bong legislative caucus who pledged their support for Tokpa.
Campaigning for Cole in Bong County, Howard-Taylor threw jibes at the five members of the caucus for standing with Tokpa, describing them as “agents of confusion” in the county.
“All the confusion in the county is because of the five lawmakers from Bong County who are supporting Dr. Tokpa. Instead of us working together for the interest of the county, they have grouped themselves with the notion of not working with the President,” the Vice President said.
Continuing, she added: “All the visits President Weah has made to Bong these five lawmakers have not attended.”
‘Don’t waste your votes CDcians’ – Howard-Taylor
Vice President Taylor last Saturday went to Foequelleh, Panta District where she pitched Cole as the most electable candidate and called on partisans of the CDC to prove critics wrong by voting the CDC candidate.
“This election is not about Marvin Cole, it’s about your party. Bong is very crucial county for the CDC. You can’t have two opposition senators in the Senate,” she said.
“Continue to demonstrate to people that your party is your party. Don’t vote for Dr. Tokpa. He has aged. Why will you vote for a man who can’t walk straight,” she said.
‘No One Party Owns Bong’
Despite Howard-Taylor’s perceived influence leading to the polls, her rivalry with several lawmakers in the county apparently hurt her choice.
District One Representative Albert Junior Hills (All Liberia Party) told FrontPageAfrica Wednesday that they united against the Vice President’s candidate to signal a message that no one party owns Bong County.
“Bong County belongs to everyone. The Vice President doesn’t own Bong County. We are not her children for her to control us at her will and pleasure,” an outspoken Hills said.
Rep Hills said the support shown for Tokpa in the by-election was a glimpse of what to come in 2023.
“Let this send a message to the ruling that we are getting ready ahead of 2023,” he said.
Rep. Edward Karfiah (District #5, Peoples Unification Party) said while it is true they respect the ruling party and are willing to work with President Weah, the constant attacks on their character by the Vice President was unacceptable.
“If you go in our district to campaign and denigrate us, we have to respond as a team and that’s what we have done with the senatorial by-election in the county,” he said.
Karfiah said the collaboration with opposition political parties will continue to keep the government feet to the fire.
How Jewel Enjoyed Power in Bong?
In Bong County, Madam Taylor, since 2005, has held the political key of Bong County after successfully winning the highest number of votes during the 2005 elections.
After 2005, Madam Taylor in 2011, held the hands of her one-time office aid, Edward Karfiah, and handed a House of Representative slot to him and later a seat at the Capitol.
Again, to prove her supremacy in 2014, during the special senatorial election, Madam Taylor won a second nine-year term.
This cemented her position as a formidable force and dubbing her as a kingmaker of the central Liberian county.
It was a domineering privilege she was relishing going into the 2017 Presidential and House of Representatives elections which helped convince the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) to pick her as Vice Presidential candidate.
Madam Taylor consequently delivered Bong to the CDC as the party won the county during the first and second rounds of voting in spite of massive campaigning by Vice President Joseph N. Boakai of the Unity Party in the county.
During the 2017 campaign process, candidate Boakai of the Unity Party frequented Bong County than any of the remaining counties, same as his vice running mate at the time, Emmanuel Nuquay only to deface Madam Taylor’s popularity.
Assisted by other prominent sons of Bong County including Prince Moye, George Mulbah and others, the UP and other oppositions crumbled at the 2017 polls.
Jewel Making of Cole
But Taylor’s move to feature a ‘little known’ Marvin Cole against George Mulbah in the representative version of the 2017 elections paid off.
Mulbah was considered by many as the only real opposition to Madam Taylor in terms of popularity in the county.
Cole, a former staffer in the office of Madam Taylor, surprisingly defeated Mulbah, a one-time Superintendent, two times lawmaker and very prominent figure in the county.
With months to the election, Madam Taylor masterminded the removal of Mulbah from the ticket of the NPP.
With Mulbah off the stage, the popularity of Madam Taylor continued to grow with Cole, her protégé now in full control of the metropolitan district of the County, Electoral District #3 where the capital city, Gbarnga is located.
Jewel handpicking successor
To further show her control over the county, Madam Taylor opted to ensure that the lawmaker she just created few months ago – Representative Cole – succeeds her as senator of the county.
But it seems that move has backfired. Before Cole preferment, Taylor had to pull the strings.
It was not all rosy for Representative Cole to get the slot of the former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) to contest on the ticket of the CDC as there were other ideas within the NPP to feature a candidate other than Representative Cole.
First, the NPP Bong County Chairman held a primary where Bill Adam Corneh, former District 6 lawmaker, was announced as the winner.
But Cole, relying on the support of his political-maker, Madam Taylor, maneuvered the primary process that announced Corneh as winner null and void, eventually winning the chance to contest on the CDC ticket.
It was not long when President Weah and Vice President Taylor took to their heels to run into Bong County, convincing voters to elect Representative Cole as the next senator.
Some other candidates in the Bong County Senatorial by-election publicly complained about the level of time and efforts exerted by Vice President Taylor in campaigning for Representative Cole using her official convoy and resources.
During the launch of the Coca-Cola Factory to ELWA junction road project at the weekend, days to the conduct of the senatorial election, President Weah breached protocol in the midst of international partners including the World Bank, Swedish Ambassador and other foreign dignitaries when he openly campaigned for the election of Representatives Saah Joseph of Montserrado County and Cole of Bong.
According to President Weah, the people of Bong and Montserrado Counties should vote the two individuals into office because they are part of his “Pro-Poor agenda for the transformation of Liberia” and with the two they can all change the country for the better.
While Representative Cole was out in Bong County, President Weah called Representative Joseph, who was present during the groundbreaking ceremony, on the stage and lifted his hands to the mammoth crowd at the Paynesville Red Light.
Madam Taylor was in Bong County at the same time pushing the message for the election of Representative Cole as the next Senator to replace her.
Jewel’s Proxy political war with Representative Moye
The senatorial by-election turned out to be a proxy political war between Vice President Taylor and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Prince K. Moye as the two were supporting either one of the frontrunners.
It appeared like a show of political strength in the county, some observers asserted at the time.
Deputy Speaker Moye was one time Procurement Director at the Cuttington University when Dr. Henrique Tokpa served as president of the University and the two built a strong working relationship that transcended to allies in national politics.
On the other side of the coin, Vice President Taylor and Representative Cole enjoyed similar relationship, the latter growing from a staffer in the office of Madam Taylor during her tenure as Senator of Bong County onward to becoming City Mayor of Gbarnga City before winning a seat at the legislature.
As the proxy contest between Vice President and the Deputy Speaker, political observers predicted that the election of Cole would be a huge victory for the political image of Vice President Taylor in Bong County, further cementing her strength within the CDC.
On the other hand, Vice President Taylor, accordingly, considers Deputy Speaker Moye as a threat to her political strength in Bong County and a threat to her political dominance in the central Liberian county.
Jewel Belittled?
If there is any day to ever remember in the political history of Vice President Taylor, it will be Tuesday, July 31, 2018 when she was massively defeated through her proxy candidate, Representative Cole.
Some say even on polling day, the Vice President and her followers were seen in Bong County moving from one polling center to another, transporting voters and mobilizing for the election of Representative Cole.
Soon after 6:00 pm when the results started to pour in, the variables was evolving in miserable circumstances for the “Iron Lady” of Bong County. Her proxy candidate was losing across the county.
Worse of all and very unimaginable, she could not deliver her native Sanoyea District to Cole as Dr. Tokpa bagged more votes there.
End of Jewel’s political Era?
While it is a known fact that politics is dynamic and sometimes the unexpected happens, the defeat of Cole signals the beginning of the end of Taylor’s long-standing political era that was once admired, respected and strong.
Until Tuesday, July 31, Vice President Taylor was dubbed the most powerful female politician next to former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf enjoyed a long level of political prominence.
Asset Turns Liability?
How would the Vice President regain her fame within the CDC-led government, giving the Coalition the assurance that she is still an asset to the CDC is a big task ahead?
Even with the CDC just seven months into its six-year term, looking ahead to the 2023 polls is a future endeavor of the new ruling party as members hint at a 12-year rule.
Finding a running mate with stringer geopolitical prowess or retaining same with a dwindling influence would be a critical move.
Taylor’s supporters in Bong County are still confident that there is still time before 2023 to make a political comeback.
On the other hand, her critics say she will be seen as a liability to the CDC given that she has lost her grip on the Bong County.
The early results are a rebuke for Vice President Taylor, who endorsed Cole –to no avail – in a county she twice won re-election (2005 and 2014). As preliminary results poured in Wednesday.