MONROVIA: Nimba County, Liberia’s second most votes-rich county, was a total disaster for the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the first round of the 2023 polls. Senator Prince Y. Johnson, despite the virulent campaign attacks on his person, proved nearly supreme, leaving the ruling CDC with a paltry 50,000 votes why the opposition Unity Party got a whopping 140,000 votes. Such a devastating difference. But it seems that CDC is not cowing to the shock; it is rather nursing its wounds and not giving up. Apparently, the ruling party has uncovered its errors, and hours within the runoff campaign period, it has begun bagging significant endorsements replete with game-changing possibilities. The Analyst reports.
Barely 24 hours after he made a passionate appeal to Liberians at the CDC’s electorate-appreciation ceremony to re-elect him for a second term of office, has President George Manneh Weah’s bid for reelection received a major boost.
On Thursday, October 26, 2023, an eminent daughter of Nimba County, the county’s former Superintendent, Madam Edith Gongloe Weh, endorsed the President, stating that he is a better choice compared to main challenger, Ambassador Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Standard Bearer of the Unity Party (UP).
Madam Gongloe-Weh, speaking at a special press conference, said her decision was not made overnight but was conceived after thorough consultations with her husband, children, other family members, supporters, including the Friends of Edith and other well-wishers.
She said her decision also followed thorough assessments of both Weah and Boakai who are the remaining two candidates out of the total 20 candidates who contested the just concluded October 10, 2023 general elections.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, Friends of Edith and fellow citizens of our great country, after thorough consultations and assessments of the remaining candidates, we do hereby declare our unreserved support for the re-election bid of President George Manneh Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change,” said in a statement at the press conference.
“We did not come to this decision over night. We consulted with our supporters, family, and well-wishers before coming to this conclusion. We critically looked at other prevailing variables before concluding that President Weah was a better choice in the pending election. We hope that President Weah and his team will take our endorsement as a challenge to govern well when re-elected for his second term bid.”
Unarguably one of the strongest women voices in Nimba politics, Madam Gongloe-Weh said further: “As we prepare for that round of election, we want to make a decision that keeps the country stable and not veered off in the wrong direction yet again. That is why this decision is critically important to us. We do not take it lightly, given our country’s troubling history of perpetual underdevelopment and civil conflict caused by bad political decisions and choices of leaders that we elect into power.”
He continued: “We are further aware that elections do have consequences. It is for this reason plus more that we are compelled to make a public declaration of our choice so that our followers will know just where we stand on this critical national duty. I call on all of our supporters, who believe in our judgment, to join us in supporting President Weah to victory to complete all of his development agenda under the Pro Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development”
She said she and her supporters are resolved to robustly campaign throughout the length and breadth of Liberia, particularly Nimba County, to ensure President Weah’s success.
“We shall spread the CDC message of national reconciliation, reconstruction and renewal in the second term of the President. Thank you all and may God bless us all and save the Republic,” she said.
The endorsement coming from Madam Gongloe-Weh who, in 2020 contested, for senatorial seat in Nimba County, on the ticket of the then enlarged Collaborating Political Parties(CPP) against the CDC backed then Representative Jeremiah Kpang Koung came as a surprise to many as since her political activities in the county had never identified with the CDC.
Pundits see her new adventure as a masterstroke by CDC as it will add momentum and steam in the vote-rich county that the CDC has been battling to get a substantial number of votes to offset the huge support base the opposition Unity Party currently enjoys there.
During the first round of the general elections, UP which is featuring a son of the county, Senator Jeremiah Koung as running mate to former Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, garnered 138,070 votes against CDC’s 50,427 votes.
It can be recalled that her brother, Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe, who contested the presidency on the ticket of the Liberia People’s Party (LPP) in the just concluded general elections but lost, endorsed Boakai for the run-off election where the UP strong man will face President Weah.