Edith Gongloe-Weh Weighs In on Kogan-Koung Rift -Says Simmering Feud Troubling; Craves Elders’ Intervention

MONROVIA – The unfortunate fall of Nimba County strongman Prince Yormie Johnson has left a huge leadership void that many believe is irreparable—an assertion some critics say was untenable, citing a few names of eminent citizens of the county that were on the standby to take the leadership role. But the chicks are gradually coming home to roast; those that the citizens of Liberia’s second most populous province were depending on—particularly Vice President Jeremiah Koung and newly elected Senator Samuel Kogar—to have healed the wounds of the Senator Johnson’s passing, and to unite the county are at each other’s throat. And an apparently unlikely figure, a longtime political opponent of the duo, kinswoman Edith Gongloe Weh, is hugely worried about the split. She has been expressing her anxieties, craving for a solution that could be fashioned by elders of the county in the soonest possible time. The Analyst George Flomo reports.          

The deepening rift between Nimba County Senator Samuel Kogar and Vice President Jeremiah Koung has drawn fresh reactions, with former senatorial candidate Edith Gongloe Weh describing the feud as troubling, and warning that the elders of Nimba must intervene before it spirals out of control.

Senator Kogar, who replaced the late Senator Prince Y. Johnson following a heated by-election, recently launched a scathing attack on Vice President Koung, accusing him of interference and suppression.

Appearing on a community radio station in District #5, the senator alleged that the Vice President attempted to undermine his independence.

“If the Vice President wants to treat me like a bag boy, I won’t agree. I was duly elected by the people of Nimba, not by the Vice President or the President,” Senator Kogar declared.

According to him, the Vice President continues to disrespect him as a senator, to the extent that he suppressed him during the representative by-election in District #5, blocking him from supporting anyone.

“I have already complained him to the President, and I am waiting because I don’t care about anyone or their feelings,” Senator Kogar disclosed.

The senator’s outburst immediately sparked debate across Nimba and beyond, especially given that Vice President Koung was once a strong ally who supported Kogar’s rise to the Senate.

Reacting to the controversy during a phone-in on the OK Conversation, former candidate Edith Gongloe Weh—who contested the very election that brought Kogar to power—expressed solidarity with the senator’s claims while drawing from her own experiences of political suppression.

“I believed him because I have experienced it,” Madam Weh said. “I have been suppressed, and marginalized by the same individual. So I believed him when I reflect upon what I have experienced. But here is the thing, it is happening to somebody who occupies a leadership position in the country. That’s the difference.”

She indicated that while disagreements among leaders are not unusual, the Vice President must respect the boundaries of his office and avoid overshadowing other elected officials in Nimba.

Madam Weh continued: “Yes, the Vice President is the most senior government official from the county and his role should be one of advisement. He cannot thrust himself into making decisions or playing roles that belong to local leaders. That’s the conflict.”

Responding to Senator Nya D Twayen’s Facebook post, which downplayed the feud as a “normal sibling’s arrangement,” Madam Weh countered that the situation should not be trivialized.

“All we are saying is the elders of the county should not let this pass. At this level of civil authority, if it’s not dealt with, it could degenerate into something else,” she warned The Vice President’s position should not cause him to overpower everything else in the county,” she warned.

In addition to her remarks on the Nimba crisis, Madam Weh used the platform to extend commendations and congratulations on national issues. She praised former President George M. Weah for urging his partisans to respect the rule of law during a recent eviction dispute involving CDCians.

She continued: “Let me thank former president George M. Weah for what happens last Saturday. You know it was fearful for some of us, especially when we were hearing voices; resistant, defiance to hear that former president Weah had to be on the phone that night, to call on CDCians and say ‘do not resist’ if the court say they should evict, you should leave calmly and let the law take its course. I have never seen such level of leadership”.

She also congratulated newly appointed Chief Justice Yarmie Gbesiaye, calling his elevation to the Supreme Court “a proud moment for Liberia’s judiciary. The people of Nimba County expressed best wishes to him at the level of the Supreme Court of Liberia.”

The ongoing tensions between Sen. Kogar and Vice President Koung has left many observers concerned, with calls mounting for elders and national leaders to step in and mediate between the two Nimba leaders to preserve stability in the politically influential county.