FrontPageAfrica - Attempt to Ambush Liberia Senate Race Ballot Boxes Foiled in Bassa A FrontPageAfrica correspondent in the county said the incident started about 12:30 am Tuesday morning when four armed men were spotted tailing the truck carrying election materials including tally sheets and ballot papers. The votes in question were cast in District Number Two, near an area called Gi-gbarn Administrative District, Grand Bassa County near the border with Bong County. The area is dominated by 70 percent Kpelleh and 30 percent Bassa; but is located on the Bassa side of the border. The district has a total of 5,000 registered voters but only 350 actually voted, according to county election officials in the area. Kaipay has tallied 250 while Findley tallied 100 votes in the remote district area. Tallying of votes in the Grand Bassa County senatorial race started on Sunday and so far 249 out of the total 347 polling places in the county have been tallied with Liberty Party’s Jonathan Kaipay leading with 12,623 (57.0%) while Incumbent Gbehzongar Findley remains second with 8,228 votes (37.4%). NEC Chair Confirms Incident Cllr. Jerome Korkoyah, head of the National Elections Commission confirmed to FrontPageAfrica Tuesday that the incident did take place but that election magistrate and the commission have managed to bring the matter under control and all the ballots are intact. Said Cllr. Korkoyah: “There was an attempt to ambush the truck in an area which is one of the remote parts of the county. It is actually closed to the Bong County side but is considered to be part of Grand Bassa.” The NEC Chair said the area was the last remaining tally left to count votes for the county. Some poll workers in the district told FrontPageAfrica that they were afraid for their lives, especially after a pickup with armed men came by to threaten them. “It was the last place remaining to receive tally sheets. The ambushers, whoever they were must have known that those results were coming,” said Cllr. Korkoyah. The NEC Chair said the election magistrate in the area informed him of the incident Tuesday and explained that whoever the attackers were knew that election materials were going to be in the magistrate’s pickup. But the driver parked the car in an undisclosed area until help came and security was mobilized. Fortunately for us, they were not able to touch the election papers and we have resumed counting of ballots. Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, Campaign Manager for Kaipay said they were not sure who was responsible for the attempted ambush but said the campaign did have all of the tally sheets in their possession and that their poll watchers on top of the tally from the recent elections in the county. “They did not think we had poll watchers. While the ballot boxes were on the truck last night, they (poll watchers) saw two cars chasing them. After 12 am I was advised to send cars to help tail the vehicles that was tailing the truck carrying the ballot papers.” Senator Lawrence says she immediately called the police for escort to tail the truck. The driver was so afraid that he turned into the Firestone plantation and turned his lights off. He wanted to stay there until broad day light or until police could come. When the police arrive and he knew the coast was clear, he put the truck lights back on and the police escorted the entire convoy to NEC office in Buchanan. LP Points Blame on Findley Supporters Eyewitnesses explained Tuesday to FrontPageAfrica that a car belonging to a popular supporter of incumbent Senator, Gbehzongar Findley was detained by around 2:00 AM, Tuesday at the Owens Grove Gate when supporters of Liberty Party received information that there was an alleged plan to hijack a truck carrying over 18 ballot boxes from Gi-gbarn Administrative District, Grand Bassa County an area bordering Bong County. Levi Karnoe, One of the LP supporters who apparently thwarted the plan, said they received credible information on Monday alerting them about a plot to hijack ballot papers in other to have a situation that may lead to a re-run or a new election. When police at the gate probed the driver for explanation, he declined to give explanation as to why they were heading from the direction of the Truck carrying the ballot boxes. One of the NEC workers on the truck which later arrived at the gate told reporters that the particular black Nissan Xterria jeep had been following them but because they feared for their lives – the NEC workers along with the boxes – had to change their route by using the Firestone 26 gate instead of the regular route of 15 Gate. The NEC worker who begged for anonymity said the truck carrying the boxes opted to use the Bong County route due to the lack of road linking Gi-gbarn to the rest of Grand Bassa County. By 3:30 AM Tuesday morning, the LP supporters immediately phoned stalwarts of the party and after an hour, several Liberty Party officials and members of the Kaipay campaign team arrived at the scene. Hon. Byron Browne, a member of the Kaipay team, who later arrived on the scene insisted following the truck until it arrived in Buchanan City before 7:00 AM, Tuesday morning. Grand Bassa County police chief, Fedrick Neppy is yet to comment on the situation but observers are asserting that police in Buchanan is treating the incident at a low-key. LP Queries Count Sheet Meanwhile, observers of LP in the tally center on the Fairgrounds rejected one of the senate record of the count sheet from Quejay Town, Electoral District Two on grounds that the record of the county sent to NEC was altered in favor of Findley and did not match the ones given to the parties’ agent at the precinct. Although the matter was suspended by the tallying officers in Buchanan, it sparked dissatisfaction from observers of the Liberty Party despite a wide margin between their candidate and the incumbent. On Election Day, Kaipay warned NEC against discrepancy especially when there were allegations, just before Election Day claiming that some candidates were buying voter’s card and recording the serial number. “I want to call on the NEC to be very steady in the process, to be very strong intense of wanting a free, fair and transparent election,” Kaipay told FrontPage Africa at the Big Town polling center. There are elements that we are noticing; we hope those problems will be resolved as soon as possible. We want to tell them that we hope and pray if we should maintain the peace in this country and of course the election commission should be very careful and honest in the process.” The Liberty Party claimed it deployed two poll watchers at each one of the 347 polling places across the county. In a related development, tension is said to be looming in another Senatorial race in Bomi with supporters of one of the contenders said to be threatening to burn down the election commission office in the area. Former Minister of State for Financial Affairs and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s long-time aide Morris Saytumah is in the lead in the area with 1,990 votes for 54.7 percent followed by DUanna A. Kamara, representing the Congress for Democratic Change with 1,137 votes for 31.2 percent. frontpageafricaonline/index.php/politic/4115-attempt-to-ambush-liberia-senate-race-ballot-boxes-foiled-in-bassa
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 00:14:28 +0000
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