Gbarnga, Bong County – There is a growing perception among political parties and their followers that the one who puts up the biggest crowd at rallies has the upper hand and the political strength to accumulate the highest number of votes at the poll.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
In the most populous Monsterrado County with registered voter of 777503, the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) claimed it paraded two million people with fanatics of the trumpeting pre-mature victory slogans.
The crowd politics has now shifted to Bong County, a place believed to be leaning towards vice president and standard bearer of Unity Party Joseph Boakai.
Every visit by VP Boakai and his running mate J. Emmanuel Nuquay witnessed huge turnouts. Again, when Alternative National Congress of Alexander Cummings and his running mate Jeremiah Sulunteh, a native of Bong County led the party to Bong County, it was the same story, mammoth crowd.
Benoni Urey’s All Liberian Party has also witnessed similar situation on his visits to Bong County while Liberty Party’s standard bearer Charles Walker Brumskine has been endorsed by some chiefs in Bong County.
The CDC launch in Gbarnga Tuesday, September 5, 2017, which paralyzed normal activities left many wondering which party has control of Bong – the county with the third highest of registered voters (208, 250).
Three is a growing suspicion that Bong County is open to five political parties: Liberty Party, Unity Party, Coalition for Democratic Change, Alternative National Congress and the All Liberian Party.
The county has become very critical to the calculations of the five political parties and it seems it remains the main electoral battleground – one that will be hotly contested.
CDC basks in the euphoria of Jewel’s 2014 triumph
Partisans of CDC believed that Senator Taylor’s back-to-back elections (2005 and 2014) could be an added advantage for the party. Sayblee Weayea, a member of the party in Bong told FrontPageAfrica – “She is respected and loved by her people.
To win two successive elections in Bong County is a show of political strength and it is that strength that the party is relying on to win the county,” he said.
Senator Taylor, while speaking at the launch of the party’s campaign said she is aware of what winning Bong means for the CDC. “We were not here, but we have returned,” she said. “Some political parties say that they have captured Bong County, but the manner in which our people have come out today speaks to the fact that I am still loved by my people,” she added.
Money could influence voters in Bong County
With the way the appeal to money was elevated as a major decider in the 2014 special senatorial election in Bong County, it is safe to expect the inducement of voters to be a major electoral strategy in Bong County.
Political pundits are predicting the ALP and ANC to have edge here. However, it will be naïve to think Liberty Party will not have a heavy war chest also.
Weah Sondah, a political commentator in Bong, wrote on his Facebook page: “I have argued on this page that the power of stomach infrastructure is overrated, that it can help you only when your opponent is electorally vulnerable and is of little utility when she is not.”
There are many deciding factors that could shape the presidential election in Bong and the difficulty of accurately ascertaining the weight of the factors is adding to the unpredictability of Bong votes.
Bong’s unpredictable voters
It will be unfair to suggest that the ‘political godfathers’ always determine outcomes of elections, especially in a county like Bong.
In fact, it could be argued that citizens in Bong have a mind of their own and that it is only when there is a convergence of interests that they vote along with their ‘political godfathers’.
Nuquay is form Margibi County, but has very strong ties with the Kpelle belt most of whom are in Bong, Vice President Boakai who is from Lofa traditionally share family ties with Bong; Sulunteh is a son of the soil who has teamed with Alexander Cummings, a new comer making massive headways while Senator Taylor remains the daughter of the land and a chief to the people.
On this score, according to many political pundits, it is reasonable to expect that a segment of the voters in Bong. The voters here will have to vote based on what they independently think of or how they perceive the presidential candidates and their capacity to address urgent national challenges.
According to many, irrespective of the disposition of political godfathers, they can make their case directly to the electorates, especially the undecided.
Some of these voters, pundits are predicting, might be persuaded by the achievements of the Unity Party in the county and think the party deserves to be re-elected, while others might think otherwise and be inclined towards opposition.
Can Sulunteh repeat 2005 feat for ANC
Jeremiah Sulunteh became a household name in Liberian politics during the 2005 presidential elections when he helped Cllr. Winston Tubman win 42. 2 percent of the votes in Bong County, the largest percentage of votes in the county.
Sulunteh was Tubman’s running mate under the National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL).In the second round of the presidential election, Sulunteh supported President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a move that helped the Unity Party win Bong County.
Though Tubman didn’t win the presidency, but his success in Bong left many wondering how Sulunteh, who was then vice president of Planning and Development at Cuttington University, could win a county that was a stronghold for the National Patriotic Party (NPP) of former President Charles Taylor.
The NPP fared poorly in that election. Taylor’s former wife, Senator Jewel Howard Taylor, received 28.4 percent of the vote to win the Senate seat in a race with 15 other candidates.
Now, that Sulunteh is the running mate to Cummings, presidential candidate for the Alternative National Congress(ANC), some are wondering if Sulunteh can deliver a victory for Cummings with Senator Taylor serving as vice standard bearer for Ambassador George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change.
Sulunteh, who went on to become Liberia’s ambassador to the United States, won Bong County, though two other county citizens were running mates – Richard Flomo, vice president to Hananiah Zoe of the Liberia Education and Development Party (LEDP) and Dr. Amelia Ward, vice president to Charles Walker Brumskine of the Liberty Party.
Sulunteh said he’s optimistic about his chances in 2017. He is hopeful that he can replicate what he did in 2005 because he continued to contribute to Bong County long after he left.
“If you look at the ANC chances, we have a better chance than all the parties in Bong because we have worked with our people throughout and we still command the influence we had in 2005,” he said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
John O. Flomo, member of ANC’s youth wing in Bong County, said Sulunteh is still loved in the county and citizens know about his numerous contributions.
For example, during the Ebola crisis, Sulunteh sent a consignment of food, medical supplies and other items to quarantined communities in the county, Kumeh said.
“If people say the Ambassador will not win Bong County in (the presidential election), it is laughable,’’ he said.
In 2005, Sulunteh won Bong County for Winston Tubman, though he did not have the resources to donate rice to influence the electorate, Kumeh said.
“Sulunteh can now convince his people that when he is elected vice president he will do more,” he said.
Since 2005, Sulunteh has been instrumental in Bong County politics. His endorsement helped several political aspirants win seats in the legislature.
In 2011, Sulunteh endorsedRepresentative Edward Karfiah (District 5) and Senator Henry Yallah of the New Deal Movement over Unity Party candidates.
Sulunteh said he supported Karfiah and Yallah over Unity Party candidates because of the relationship he built with them over the years.
However, Yallah and Karfiah are not backing Sulunteh in the 2017 election. They are supporting Vice President Boakai.
Tarwoe Walonfah, a member of the Unity Party youth wing, said Sulunteh should not have left the UP. Sulunteh, he said, does not command the level of respect he had in 2005.
“The people of Bong County are resolved this time around,’’ Walonfah said.
He can’t win Bong. Sulunteh has been out of the country for a long time, and I don’t see him making impact in a very short period.’’
This time around, political leaders in the county are divided. Vice President Joseph Boakai is supported by Prince Moye (United Party, District 2); Tokpah Mulbah (People’s Unification Party, District 1); George Mulbah (National Patriotic Party, District 3); Edward Karfiah (People’s Unification Party, District 5); Senator Henry Yallah (People’s Unification Party); and Internal Affairs Minister Dr. Henrique Tokpa.
Another group of political leaders support Cllr. Charles Brumskine of the Liberty Party. They include Emmanuel Lomax and Edward Gboe, who are aspiring for a seat in District 3 and Emmanuel Diabolo, a youth activist.
Senator Taylor and the CDC are determined to win Bong, counting on a new breed of politicians who have joined the party, including former Gbarnga City Mayor Marvin Cole.
Of the eight members of the Bong County caucus, only Representative Lester Paye of the ANC is supporting Sulunteh.
