MONROVIA – In a letter addressed to Madam Davidetta Browne Lansanah, the Chairperson of Liberia’s National Elections Commission (NEC), the Unity Party has expressed profound concerns about the integrity of the October 10, 2023, Presidential and General Elections. The letter, signed by Amos Tweh, the Secretary General of the party, outlines several troubling observations that have raised questions about the conduct of the electoral process.

By Lennart Dodoo, ldodoo@frontpageafricaonline.com

The Unity Party pointed out the high number of invalid votes across the country during the vote counting process. These invalid votes were attributed to either the discretion used by NEC officers or a lack of voter education, for which the UP claims the NEC is responsible. The party stressed the need for a vigorous voter education campaign, suggesting the use of electronic media and messages in local languages to address this issue.

The Unity Party highlighted instances of ballot fraud, particularly in Maryland County, where the number of ballots exceeded the total registered voters in certain polling places, which they believe indicate ballot stuffing. The party strongly condemned such fraudulent activities and demanded a thorough investigation.

The letter also raised concerns about the arrest of NEC workers attempting to alter vote counts in favor of a specific party and emphasized the need for strict legal action against those involved. Furthermore, the party pointed out lapses in the security of ballot materials, especially in transit, and recommended enhanced protection measures, including the involvement of the Armed Forces of Liberia.

Another issue raised by the Unity Party was the non-systematic announcement of election results, which created an impression that the NEC had selectively chosen the results to announce. The party urged the NEC to announce results in an orderly manner, disaggregated by counties and polling places, to ensure transparency and credibility.

In response to these concerns, the Unity Party provided several recommendations for the upcoming Presidential elections runoff. These included a call for a robust voter education campaign, the trial of election workers involved in fraud, reinforced protection of ballot materials, and orderly announcement of results by counties and polling places.

The Unity Party emphasized its commitment to the democratic process and announced that its polling agents have been trained to work closely with NEC voter identification officers to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the electoral process. The party believes that this collaborative effort will strengthen the credibility of the upcoming elections.

MONROVIA – The National Elections Commission (NEC) has reported that it is making progress in the deployment of electoral materials in preparation for the October 10th polls, covering 11 out of the 15 counties, while the remaining four are currently being packaged.

By Henry Karmo henry.karmo@frontpageafricaonline.com

As of October 2nd, 2023, the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Davidetta Brown-Lansannah, stated that electoral materials have been deployed in the following counties: Sinoe, Maryland, Grand Kru, River Gee, River Cess, Grand Gedeh, Lower Lofa, Upper Lofa, Lower Nimba, Upper Nimba, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Lower Bong, and Upper Bong. Materials for the remaining four counties, namely Montserrado, Bomi, Grand Bassa, and Margibi, are in the process of being packaged and will be deployed this week.

The NEC Chairperson also informed reporters that the Commission had ordered the reprint of the ballot papers for electoral district 1 of Margibi County due to an error in which a political party’s initial was mistakenly placed under the logo of an independent candidate, Mr. Jomah Samuels. The error has been rectified, and the corrected ballots, printed in Ghana, arrived yesterday. They are expected to be delivered to the NEC central warehouse today.

“Training for temporary staff for the October 10th polls is proceeding as planned. The following categories and numbers of staff have completed their training across the country: 79 Electoral District Coordinators, 382 Electoral Supervisors, 5,890 Presiding Officers, and 5,890 Voter Identification Officers. Training for other temporary staff will commence soon. The accreditation of agents for political parties and independent candidates is currently underway. The Commission urges political parties and independent candidates to visit the NEC Political Affairs Office to complete the accreditation process.”

Addressing outstanding issues at the NEC, the Chairperson mentioned a matter involving Mr. Victor W. Wreh, who was an aspirant for Electoral District #3 in Montserrado County during the nomination process. She explained that Mr. Wreh had made an inquiry concerning his application for nomination, and his request for a hearing was granted by the Political Affairs Section and the NEC Legal Coordinator. However, he was encouraged to formalize his concerns for discussion after failing to adequately respond with evidence to the nomination checklist. Mr. Wreh has since forwarded a communication on this matter to the NEC. It should be noted that while the Commission will grant him an audience, he cannot qualify as a candidate after the nomination process has ended.

Regarding the attempted hacking during the Lofa Senatorial By-election, the Chairperson stated that the Justice Ministry and NEC had discussed increasing the security of the NEC website, which the NEC has complied with.

Responding to questions about “increasing the number of registrants on the Final Registration Roll,” she clarified that there was no increase in the figure, which remains at 2,471,617, as previously announced. The preliminary figures were announced during the data processing of the first and second phases of collation. After deduplication and adjudication, the Commission announced the Final Registration Roll of 2,471,617 eligible voters for the October 10th, 2023 Elections.

Regarding election security, the NEC Chairperson emphasized that it is the responsibility of the government, and the Commission is working with the joint security forces to finalize security arrangements for the October 10th, 2023 General Elections. She expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Justice and the security apparatus for providing security to the Commission since the beginning of the electoral process.

MONROVIA – Madam Davidetta Browne Lansanah, the chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC) has sharply responded to allegations that the Commission is planning to rig the upcoming presidential and legislative elections.

By Gerald C. Koinyeneh – gerald.koinyeneh@frontageafricaonline.com

Madam Lansanah, addressing the NEC’s weekly press briefing on Tuesday said the NEC is committed to conducting free, fair and transparent elections as it has done in the past, and will in no way betray the trust of the Liberian people and the international community.

She cautioned political parties participating in the elections to desist from making false accusations against the NEC.

“We are not cheaters. If you claim that the Commission will cheat and you are participating in the process, tomorrow, if you win, will you be telling the Liberian people that the Commission cheated for you to win? Let us Please guide our utterances,” she said.

She continued: “The same organization that will confer legitimacy on you is the same organization you are denigrating and bringing to public disrepute – that we are cheaters here. We don’t cheat anybody. What is in the ballot box is what we process and what we announce.”

In the buildup to Liberia’s crucial general elections, supporters of the Unity Party have hinted at the possibility of election rigging by the government, while simultaneously threatening unconventional reactions if such allegations prove true.

Senator Johnson, a former warlord and staunch ally of former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai of the opposition Unity Party, raised eyebrows last week when warned that any attempt to cheat in the upcoming elections, the “people’s power” would be exercised like the Arab Spring, which was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s.

Addressing a campaign rally, former vice president Joseph Boakai, standard bearer of the Unity Party warned that it would be “the end of Liberia” if the ruling CDC rigged the October 10 elections.

In the video, Ambassador Boakai stated, “That’s why you have to protect it [the votes]. If they think they’ll steal this election, we will not allow it because if you do it, that is the end of this country.”

However, Amos Tweh, UP secretary-general, who attended the NEC press conference, said Amb. Boakai was misconstrued. He said the UP has faith in the NEC, but will speak when there is any inconsistency to ensure their votes are protected.

He expressed concern that the number of eligible voters in Grand Bassa, Margibi and Montserrado Counties increased after the verification exercise where the NEC removed the ineligible voters including underaged voters from the voter list. With the deduplication exercise, Tweh said the number of voters should have decreased or remained the same, and not increased.

Madam Browne, responding to him, assured that the NEC would review his complaint and respond in due time. Also responding to Tweh’s concern over the delay in publication of the final registration roll (FRR), the NEC chairperson said her staff are working assiduously to print out the final FRR.

She revealed that printing of the FRR began ten days ago, and is progressing well. “NEC staff are working day and night to ensure that materials are deployed in time for the October 10^th Elections, especially given the challenges with delivery of those materials to some parts of the country,” she said.

She noted that to make the process more transparent, as has been done in the past, the FRR is being printed to be pasted at the 2080 precincts across the country prior to Election Day.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, the NEC reiterates that the FRR for the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections will be made available to all political parties, Independent Candidates and other stakeholders upon completion of the ongoing process to secure the data,” she said.

‘All is on course’

With the arrival of the ballot papers, Madam Lansanah said all is on course for the smooth conduct of the elections.

She revealed that the ballot papers arrived in the country on Monday, 25 September 2023 from the Republic of Ghana via the Roberts International Airport in the following categories quantities; 3,320,500 presidential ballot papers, 3,402,122 senatorial ballots and 3,403,208 representative ballot papers.

She said the ballots are currently in secured storage under state securities, adding that deployment of ballot papers and other sensitive and non-sensitive election materials to the 19 magisterial offices in the 15 counties for onward distribution to the 2,080 voting precincts nationwide will commence in the next few days.

Logistical Preparations

She further announced that assorted election materials including ballot boxes, precinct kits, tactile ballot guides, indelible ink, and assorted stationery procured internationally have arrived in the country. Packaging of materials for the 5,890 polling places began about two weeks ago and is ongoing. Distribution of these materials to the various county warehouses will commence in the next few days, she said.

She noted that in addition to the ongoing procurement process for land transport vehicles, the NEC has put in a procurement process for additional transportation means to convey electoral material throughout the country.

Recruitment and Training of Electoral Staff

Speaking further, she said consistent with commitment to ensuring the participation of all eligible voters, the Commission, in collaboration with partners, has drawn up appropriate strategies to provide civic and voter education for the 2023 general elections.

Accordingly, with the assistance of the UNDP Liberia Electoral Support Project, she noted the NEC established 81 civic and voter education cells across the 73 electoral districts of Liberia that are currently engaged in outreach activities in various communities including door-to-door and face-to-face campaigns at the grassroots level throughout the country.

FOR WEEKS NOW, a silent threat has been brewing that is likely to affect the outcome of the 2023 Presidential elections in Liberia.

NOT SINCE the elections of 1927 when the result gave a controversial victory to Charles D.B. King of the True Whig Party to seal his third term; or the 1985 elections marred by allegations of widespread fraud and rigging under Samuel Doe, has a threat been so grave amid fears that one wrong turn could trigger conflict and return Liberia to a chapter in its history many would prefer to forget.

THE ELECTIONS of 1927 is forever etched in the pages of history. The result not only sealed King’s third term, after his defeat of Thomas J. Faulkner of the People’s Party but also made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the most fraudulent and “the most rigged ever” reported in history.

THE FRAUDULENT ELECTORAL PROCESS of 1927 was simply too glaring not to detect, even for those days. Despite there being fewer than 15,000 registered voters, King received around 243,000 votes, compared to 9,000 for Faulkner.  

EXACTLY 58 YEARS LATER, in 1985, Liberia erupted into turmoil after controversial but official results showed that Samuel Doe had won the presidential election with 50.9% of the vote, just enough to avoid a runoff. President Doe’s National Democratic Party of Liberia also won large majorities in both houses of the legislature.

IRONICALLY, MANY independent observers believed that the Liberia Action Party’ of the late Jackson F. Doe, who officially finished second, was the actual winner. It was later revealed that Doe had the ballots counted in a secret location by his handpicked staff.

WHAT FOLLOWED was widespread human rights abuses, corruption, and ethnic tensions, that led to the start of the first Liberian civil war in 1989 and Doe’s overthrow and murder in September 1990.

WHEN THE CURRENT PRESIDENT, George Weah was the leading opposition candidate, his Congress for Democratic Change felt disenfranchised when the results of the 2011 presidential elections were announced.

THE RESULT? That election was thrown into deadly chaos after at least two people were shot dead during volatile scenes outside the party’s headquarters.

AT THE TIME, supporters of the opposition CDC party candidate, Winston Tubman, clashed with police near his beachfront offices. Armed police responded with live rounds and teargas, killing at least one person. Tubman and his running mate, Weah, the former footballer George Weah, were trapped inside the building suffused with teargas for much of the day. “We are not only sad, but we are also very disappointed,” Weah told the Guardian. “We were holding a peaceful rally and live bullets were used. To see people being killed is shocking. We are here trapped and unarmed, and they keep shooting teargas. This is wrong.”

AHEAD OF THE crucial elections next October, a lot of the fears of the past that triggered the civil war are once more resurrecting amid concerns that the head of the National Elections Commission, Davidetta Brown-Lansanah may be favoring a controversial Chinese company to introduce a biometric system of voting in NEC’s quest to do away with the optical manual registration (OMR) system which was used in previous elections.

CRITICS SAY, the OMR system does not improve the accountability and transparency of electoral processes and is usually tainted by controversy and mistrust. In a biometric voting system, the voters are registered based on their unique physical characteristics like fingerprints and even facial recognition. Others counter that while the system may eradicate double registration, it will not solve the issue of voter trucking which is associated with vote buying, a phenomenon that is becoming institutionalized in the country’s fragile democracy.  

NEC’S DECISION to award the contract to the Chinese company, EKEMP has raised a lot of eyebrows from civil society and the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC).

THE BIOMETRIC VOTER registration materials contract in question is worth nearly US$12 million. Six companies — Waymark and Mwetana, HID Global and PSI, Electoral Services International, Network Solutions, Laxton, and Ekemp applied and participated in the evaluation process conducted by the evaluation panel, but EKEMP was considered the most responsive, something that brought about concerns from sources following the procedure.

MADAM JARGBE ROSELINE NAGBE-KOWO, executive director of the PPCC, recently wrote: “The Commission, upon overall review and scrutiny of the NEC’s justifications for reconsideration, states that the NEC’s justifications tendered cannot suffice, given that they do not address the anomalies PPCC indicated, as per the September 9, 2022, communication that established the need to re-evaluate; also considering re-demonstration of the performance and functionalities of the biometric system.”

THE PPCC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR added that “NEC should note keenly that PPCC’s role, under its prior review obligations and mandates as prescribed by law, is to authenticate [that] the bidding processes conducted are in line with applicable procedures, fairly and transparently, and that bidders are treated equitably in terms of review and scrutiny of offers.”

THE PPCC, recently requested that bidders be reinvited to appear before the Bid Evaluation Panel of the NEC for a video-recorded redemonstration of Physical presentations, regarding bid IFB No. NEC/VRPLE/ICB/)/2022.

AT THAT PRESENTATION, each Bidder was requested to start with a PowerPoint presentation regarding the equipment and software to be used, followed by an actual demonstration of its data entry, printing and de-duplication process- using a person persons designated by the panel.

The PPCC has been insistent that NEC follow the guidelines fairly and transparently. DESPITE THE PPCC’S INSISTENCE, the NEC chair has accused the PPCC of failing to respond to concerns it (PPCC) has raised that should be addressed. NEC thinks this might create hurdles in the future if not responded to now.

AMID THE NEC BRUHAHA, the signs are all over the walls regarding the likely outcome of the 2023 elections, yet none of the stakeholders, including the disjointed opposition seem to be reading those signs or are simply disinterested at this point. Also, this is not new to Liberia, and not when the fruits of these bad seeds begin to manifest and people becomes victims, then concerns are raised which in most instances is too late!

ELECTION IS THE BRIDGE between peace and chaos. One need not look far away to recount the disastrous outcomes of poorly conducted elections. 

FROM ALL INDICATIONS, Davidetta Lansanah, NEC current Chairperson has demonstrated that she lacks the wherewithal to successfully manage that institution during the conduct of 2023 elections.

DURING THE CONDUCT OF THE 2020 Senatorial elections, under her leadership she woefully failed to adjudicate all elections petitions within the prescribed constitutional timeframe. Her failure to exercise prudent leadership led to a constitutional violation where adjudication of elections went beyond stipulated period. In any serious country where there’s respect for constitutional rule, Chairperson Lansanah would be history today, yet, there were no punitive measures for such gross violation. 

THE NEC CHAIRPERSON was only relieved of indictment charges by the LACC due to technical reasons. This in no way exonerate her from corruption charges as alleged by the Anti-Corruption Agency. We are heading towards a presidential election while the Head of the election body is yet to clear herself of corruption charges to build public confidence.

WHILE THOSE CRITICAL issues are still pending, she is yet again embroiled into another procurement scandal, biometric registration tender. From all indications, it’s clear that Chairperson Davidetta Lansanah has personal interest in awarding the contract to the Chinese at the detriment of the NEC and Liberia as a whole. What more are we waiting for this Chairperson to do to inform the decision makers that enough is enough and that her actions are counterproductive to democratic process in Liberia?

ARE WE WAITING FOR A DISASTROUS outcome of the October 2023 elections before we act? Sure, by then he’ll would break lose and it would be too late to savage the process.

IT IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY CLEAR that the NEC under Browne-Lansanah has failed demonstrate leadership among her fellow commissioners, running a one person show at NEC. This is also counterproductive for the institution and its mandate of delivery credible and free elections. The NEC has gradually sunk into decadent, yet we expect credible and transparent elections in 2023. Unfortunately, political stakeholders and others are busy putting the cart before the house – and waiting to get burned before crying foul!

MONROVIA – The Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Madam Davidetta Brown-Lansannah would have to provide more explanations to justify her payment of US$182,320 for facial 20 facial recognition thermometers as the Public Procurement Concession Commission (PPCC) has distanced itself from the approval of said contract.

The thermometers were rented from Tuman Enterprise by the NEC to be used during the just-ended by-elections in Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Bong and Bomi Counties.

The thermometers were used to perform non-contact automatic body temperature detection, brush human face, and perform high-precision infrared human temperature acquisition, and high effect.

The actual price of the non-contact face recognition thermometer cost at most US$1,300, however, it is baffling how the NEC rented each piece for US$9,166.

This has raised eyebrows and subjected all the commissioners of the Elections Commission to investigation by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC).

Sources within the LACC informed FrontPageAfrica the NEC Chairperson admitted to investigators that the company from which the special thermometers were rented belong to her brother. She reportedly added that PPCC approved the rental, thereby, the contract went through due process.

FrontPageAfrica has not been able to verify Madam Lansannah-Brown’s statement to the LACC.

However, FrontPageAfrica has seen a communication from the PPCC to the LACC indicating that the PPCC is unaware of any contract for the rental of facial recognition and temperature check machines, neither did they approve any such contract.

The PPCC’s communication disclosed that the NEC submitted its procurement plan on August 17, 2021 and it was reviewed and approved on August 27, 2021.

A procurement plan is a document prepared by a procuring entity indicating type of items (goods, works, and services) to be procured, coding with procurement method, timelines for invitation or advertisement, bid opening, evaluation, procurement committee approval and expected delivery date, etc.

“The PPCC states that there was no contract package nor description for facial recognition and temperature testing machines presented and indicated by the NEC on its Bong, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, and Bomi Counties by-elections procurement plan and accompanying notes,” the PPCC indicated in the communication.

The PPCC further explained that the NEC’s procurement plan included only four rentals including vehicle rental and lease (sole source), verification equipment (restricted bidding), Motorbikes rental and lease, and conference hall rental.

The PPCC indicated that the procurement processes below US$200,000 are not subject to the PPCC’s prior review and approval before award of contract as the procedures and regulations.

However, PPC Act Part 1 and 27(c) requires a procuring entity to conduct processes in consonance with applicable procedures: invite bidders, issue bidding document, conduct bid opening, conduct due diligence, and evaluate the proposals from bidders, recommend a responsive bidder in line with the predetermined criteria and submit to the Procurement Committee for acceptance or rejection and institute all applicable values and principles during the conduct of these processes.

The PPCC informed the LACC that the post review of procurement and the contract were not conducted.

OVER THE PAST SEVERAL weeks, there has been a lot of wrangling over the nominations of chairperson and commissioners at the National Elections Commission.

BACK IN MARCH, the largest civil society group which oversees electoral matters, out-rightly rejected President George Weah’s picks to the NEC.

THE ECC expressed concerns that the President’s nominations lacked broad based consultations with stakeholders.

WHILE IT REALIZED that the President has the power to appoint, ECC took serious exception to the nomination of Cllr. Ndubuisi Nwabudike, a Nigerian-born who had already been appointed twice by the President, first at the Governance Commission and later to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission.

ACCORDING TO ATTORNEY OSCAR BLOH, Coordinator of the ECC, Nwabudike was morally conflicted and lacked the credibility required to exercise neutrality over an independent body that is supposed to decide Liberia’s president and other elected officials.

IN THE END, the Senate concurred and rejected Nwabudike’s nomination.

NEXT UP was Floyd Sayor, the President’s nominees as one of the  commissioners at the NEC. Sayor was the most problematic and controversial, still haunted by his misdeeds of the District No. 15 Montserrado County Legislative Elections to fill the void of the late Adolph Lawrence.

ALTHOUGH SARYOR,  told the Senate Committee on Autonomous Agencies and Commissions during his confirmation that public perception about him have been wrong, many who felt disenfranchised by the outcome of the District No. 15, are still upset at the role Sayor played in the irregularities which marred the results.

AS DATA DIRECTOR at NEC for nearly a decade, Sayor has always come under public criticism of manipulating data at the NEC against certain individuals who for some reasons felt cheated in ever electoral process.

IN 2017 SAYOR was made to appear before the court as expert witness in the case Liberty Party versus The National elections Commission. During his confirmation hearing, Cllr. Abraham Darius Dillon, in an attempt to question the Sayor’s integrity at the NEC and whether he has been investigated by the NEC for electoral malpractice (es), the nominee denied being investigate by the NEC.

TO THE CONTRARY, a report from Cllr. Muna Ville, NEC’s hearing officer ruled in the case Telia Urey versus the NEC as a result of election dispute between she and Mr. Abu Kamara, where he  ordered the Investigation of Mr. Sayor.

PRESIDENT WEAH and the CDC must ensure that the elections on the horizon are free, fair and transparent. Appointing partisans or sympathizers to what should be a neutral body is totally wrong.

IN HIS DELIVERY OF THE VERDICT, Cllr. Ville said the chief reason for calling a rerun of election in all the quarantined polling places was because the director of the NEC data center director, Floyd Sayon compromised the integrity of the District #15 polls by failing to obey instructions from his immediate boss, to quarantine ballots from the polling places where irregularities were said to have occurred and withhold the inclusion of votes from those areas from the final tally, until all such complaints had been addressed.

DESPITE NUMEROUS objections and public outcry, the Senate Committee confirmed Mr. Floyd.

THIS WEEK, PRESIDENT Weah made two more appointments at NEC, naming Davidetta Browne Lansanah as Chair, replacing Cllr. Jerome Korkoryah whose tenure expired in March, and Cllr. Teplah Reeves as Co-Chair.

ALREADY, THE nominations are generating some concerns.

ATTORNEY BLOH of the ECC told FrontPageAfrica Wednesday that the nominee to co-chair NEC, Cllr. Reeves has strong ties to the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change because she contested on the party’s ticket in the 2017 elections as Representative Candidate for River Cess County.

MR. BLOH said the appointment of Reeves to such non-partisan institution has the propensity to undermine public confidence in the NEC and increase uncertainties on the Electoral body’s ability to hold free and fair elections in the not too distant future.

ALL THIS suggest that the ruling CDC is going all out to find nominees that are sympathetic to them to ensure victory in both the Mid Term elections this year and the 2023 Presidential elections.

WE HOPE THIS IS not the case and strongly urge the ruling CDC to do the right thing simply because it too had been down this road before and knows where it is bound to lead, chaos, uncertainty and violence.

LIBERIA HAS ENDURED  so much over the last century that it deserves nothing short of a peaceful and orderly elections and transitions from one government to the next.

IF THE CDC really wants to avoid losing the next elections, the formula is simple: Do the right things, put a stamp on corruption, exercise transparency and accountability and address the bread and butter issues facing Liberians and Liberia.

LIBERIA HAS NEVER been the same since the rice riots of April 14, 1979, it turned even worse a year later when Master Sargeant Samuel Kanyon Doe ended decades of Americo-Liberian rule on April 12, 1980 in a bloody coup d’etat which disrupted what was once one fo the most peaceful nations on planet earth.

THE NEXT DECADE saw Doe failing to come to terms with the realities, engaging in corruption, human rights abuses, killings and a disputed 1985 elections which marked the beginning of the end of Liberia’s political debacle.

AN EVENTUAL CIVIL WAR ruined lives, infrastructures and separate families, friends and loved ones. Others lost their lives in a senseless war born out of greed and dissatisfaction.

LIBERIA HAS COME too far to return to its ugly past.

PRESIDENT WEAH and the CDC must ensure that the elections on the horizon are free, fair and transparent. Appointing partisans or sympathizers to what should be a neutral body is totally wrong.

SADLY, SOME OF THOSE elected as Senators and Legislators are just too blind to see. Others, benefiting from the spoils of bad governance will defend it to their deaths – or until the apples stop falling from the trees.

SECTION 2.5 OF THE FINAL AMENDED Elections Law of Liberia regarding Party Affiliation and Oath states: “No Commissioner, election officer or any employee of the Commission shall be a member, or an affiliate of any political party, or of an association or organization; nor shall any Commissioner, election officer or any employee of the Commission canvass for any elective public office directly or indirectly. Before assuming office, each Commissioner, election officer and every employee of the Commission shall solemnly subscribe to an Oath renouncing allegiance to, and severing all connections, affiliation and relationship with his/her own, or any political party during his/her service or tenure with the Commission.

WHICHEVER WAY the tide breaks – or wherever the cooking crumbles, one thing is certain, it is Liberia that matters in the end. This is why each and every well-meaning Liberian must stand up and raise a red flag on anything resembling the ugly past of Africa’s oldest republic.

MONROVIA – President George Manneh Weah has nominated Mrs. Davidetta Browne Lansanah as Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC).

Prior to her preferment, Mrs. Davidetta Browne Lansanah was nominated, confirmed, appointed and commissioned co-chairman of the Electoral Body. She was subsequently appointed Acting Chair of the Commission after the Liberian Leader withdrew the nomination of the then Chairman-designate, Cllr. Nbudisi Nwabudiki.

The NEC Chairman-designate will replace Cllr. Jerome Korkoryah whose tenure expired in March of this year.

Commissioner Davidetta Browne-Lansanah hails from Maryland County. She holds double Baccalaureate Degrees in Public Administration and Political Science respectively, from the University of Liberia. 

Commissioner Browne-Lansanah holds a Masters of Public Administration Degree in Public Sector Management at the Cuttington University Graduate School. 

She is a veteran Broadcast Journalist and has worked at the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS), Star Radio and the Talking Drum Studio.

She worked for many years as National Communications Officer with the United Nations and as Associate Gender Officer with United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).  

She loves working, singing, dancing and giving care to her two daughters and a host of external relatives. 

Meanwhile, President Weah has nominated Cllr. Teplah Reeves as Co-chairman of NEC. She is to replace the elevated Mrs. Davidetta Browne Lansanah.

The nominations made on Monday, 15 June, 2020 are subject to confirmation by the Liberian Senate where applicable.