By Charles Gbayor, maorethason1997@gmail.com
HARPER, Liberia- Although presidential and legislative elections are close to two years away, some political aspirants are already on what many see as a campaign trail.
One of them is two times defeated legislative candidate, Dr.Wollor E. Topor who has introduced a pre-campaign strategy in Maryland County, ahead of 2023.
The exercise was greeted with jubilation from residents, who turned out from across the county recently.
He described the program as the latest raffle draw intended to show to Marylanders how transparent, trustworthy and accountable he is.
He said the raffle program was meant for participants to have won several items, experience community developments, political awareness and integrity.
Dr. Topor said he was proud because the program benefited some communities, which has been one of its objectives.
He named the renovation of palaver hut in Gboloken and Andersonville, repaired several armchairs for a community high school in Pleebo, and paid tuition for students, among others.
According to him, despite mixed feelings, he was happy to see many citizens coming out to grace the program.
“This is another method of politics I am introducing to Maryland County and I think, it’s encouraging because our people are willing to join me in developing this county. As you can see, I am the first politician in the county that has introduced this new method and you saw the turnout; it has shown that people are willing to move Maryland to another level,” Dr. Topor added.
“So, this method wasn’t for me to get money from my people, because you saw what I have done and am still doing for my people. But what I think now, is for our people to get involved in the process of community development and by this, we can achieve it”, he emphasized.
During raffle draw, several citizens won items, including 32″ flat screen television, motorbike, electric iron, fans, bags of rice, phones, cutlass, cooking oil, and packs of cubes, among others.
He noted that it has been difficult for those who weren’t successful to accept the results, but what he saw, the program met its objectives because communities, individuals and schools benefited.
“As you can see, there is nowhere in Maryland County that the name Topor and the raffle draw thing hasn’t been mentioned; nor to talk about one of my objectives, which was to create awareness,” he said.
Participants and local authorities were thanked for granting him permission to introduce a new method that he promised, will be a continuous process, ahead of the 2023 elections.
“Let me say this; it’s just the beginning; we have several of this method to be used in this election because for one to be successful in everything, he/she requires the help and concerns of others.”
Meanwhile, receiving items won, several participants lauded Dr. Topor and termed the exercise as means of showing a mark of credibility, accountability and transparency.
“We are grateful to have won such huge prizes; could you imagine, some of us have spent just LRD100 and won motorbike valued US$900 and television costs US$300, respectively.
Dr. Topor had contested two consecutive elections in Maryland County but lost. He contested for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2017 but was defeated by Speaker Bhofal Chambers.
Then in 2020, he again contested in the special senatorial election but was defeated by now Senator James P. Biney.