BY: Shallon S. Gonlor
Contacts: +231881471044/ (WhatsApp) +231778191516
NIMBA COUNTY — Preliminary recount results from the National Elections Commission Upper Nimba Magistrate Office showed that MDR/UP alliance representative candidate, Ernest Manseah leads incumbent Representative Gonpu Kargon of the outgoing CDC with a total of 679 votes margin.
Following the Super Court of Liberia mandate to conduct a recount in Nimba District 4, NEC Upper Nimba Magistrate Office Friday, January 19, 2024, began recounting votes obtained by all 17 candidates in the October 10, 2023, representative elections.
This comes after Nimba County District 4 incumbent Representative Gonpu L. Kargon filed a complaint before the high court, citing electoral irregularities, fraud, and discrepancies during the October 10, 2023, representative elections.
In District #4, MDR/UP Candidate Ernest Manseah and incumbent Representative Gonpu L. Kargon of the CDC are in a tight race, with indications suggesting that the MDR/UP Candidate could become the next representative, possibly replacing incumbent Gonpu L. Kargon of the outgoing CDC.
However, on Sunday, January 21, 2024, the NEC Magistrate’s preliminary recount results placed on a bulletin from some parts of the 71 polling stations of the district placed the MDR/UP Candidate Manseah in a commanding lead over his main rival, incumbent Representative Kargon of the CDC.
The latest recount tally report on Sunday indicates that in almost all 71 polling places in the district, Ernest Manseah of the MDR-UP obtained 8,132 votes ahead of incumbent Representative Kargon of the CDC securing 7,453 votes with a total 679 votes margin.
Amid incumbent Representative Kargon’s numerous campaign publicity and huge cash disbursement to secure a re-election, opposition Candidate Ernest Manseah with the support of Nimba County Senators Prince Y. Johnson and VP-elect Jeremiah Kpan Koung continued to showcase political supremacy, narrowly wining the outgoing CDC representative in Nimba County District 4 with an extensive votes’ margin.
In a constituency considered a stronghold of the CDC incumbent Representative, the NEC Upper Nimba Magistrate tallied results from the district have been highly dominated by the MDR/UP Candidate Ernest Manseah.
Considered a key contributing factor to his defeat, the naming of Ernest Manseah as a candidate on the MDR representative ticket, replacing him(Kargon), and the influence of Senator Prince Johnson’s support to Candidate Manseah’s representative bid, among other things, is giving the MDR/UP Candidate an edge over incumbent Representative Gonpu Kargon of the CDC.
Meanwhile, many political pundits in the county have criticized and blasted the outgoing CDC incumbent Representative Kargon for failing to showcase political supremacy to maintain re-election in his constituency, saying the same is based on parting way with Nimba County political Godfather Prince Johnson’s MDR party to join CDC, which made him unpopular to get reelected.
It can be recalled, that during the 2017 general and representative elections, Representative Gonpu Kargon became representative of Nimba County District 4 after he ran on the MDR’s party of Senator Prince Y. Johnson, and highly supported, thus democratically removing Former Representative Garrison Yealue the following month-long legal battle at the Supreme Court.
POST-ELECTION RECONCILIATION AFTER A HIGHLY CONTENTIOUS ELECTION.
Before the conduct of the 2023 general elections, Nimba County Electoral District #4 Representative, Gonpue Kargon, Former Representative and the Chairperson of Liberia Governance Commission, Garrison Yealue embraced unity and reconciliation after a disputed 2017 representative election, considering their political support for the outgoing CDC.
Both Representative Kargon and the Chairperson of Liberia Governance Commission, Garrison Yealue met in Gbor Wehyeeplay Town to reconcile their differences to end the political impasse through election conflict.
The Nimba County District#4 Lawmaker, Gonpu Kargon soon be former lawmaker has stressed the importance of peaceful coexistence, saying it was necessary to come together with Former Representative Yealue to settle over six years of political impasse as a result of a power struggle.
He added that, based on political differences, several misunderstandings and conflicts have been ringing between him and former representative Yealu, and which according to him, it has been believed that peace will not ring between them.
While former representative and the Chairperson of Liberia Governance Commission, Garrison Yealue hailed Representative Kargon for initiating the peace talk, which he described as “timely”, working with him(Kargon) to seek redress to his re-election grievances.
