PHOTO: Rep. Erol Madison Gwion, Sr.
State Radio, ELBC and other reports from Liberia’s southeastern Grand Gedeh County on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 said that there was a wave of violent protests in and around the capital, Zwedru., after news of the death of District #1 Representative Erol Madison Gwion, Sr, but calm has now returned to the area.
Gwion, age 59 is reported to have died in hospital in Ghana, after a period of illness.
Reports say those who got involved in the mob violence are accusing pointing accusing fingers at some personalities in Grand Gedeh for being responsible of his death 4 December death, after he was reelected in the October 10, 2023 legislative election.
They claim he was poisoned, something that triggered the vandalizing and burning of properties in the area, including that of Senator Zoe Emmamuel Pennoh. Details on the scale of the violence are still coming in.
The late Rep.Gwion’s Chief of Staff, Justice R. Clarke, told the Liberian Daily Observer newspaper that Rep. Gwion died early Tuesday morning.
He was a member of the House of the Representatives of the 54th Legislature. He succeeded Senator Zoe Emmanuel Pennoh, who was elected to the Senate after having represented the district for two-and-a-half terms (2006 to 2020).
Meanwhile, by Wednesday morning, reports say calm has now returned to Grand Gedeh County.