BY Alfred Kollie
A row has ensued between local officials of Liberia’s central city of Gbarnga, once the headquarters of former President Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front (NPFL), and his former wife Senator Jewel Howard Taylor over the naming of a street in her honour.
City Cooperation (GCC) has expressed disappointment over recent name given to one of the streets in City in honor of Mrs. Taylor, who is also running mate to Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) presidential candidate, George Weah.
Gbarnga City Mayor Madam Viola Nyamah Cooper said the act by Senator Taylor to place a Taylor street sign is illegal on grounds that the Bong County Senator did not consult the City Council.
The Taylor St sign is placed at the junction of the road leading to the back of the Won- a- neah Public school and the Camp Tubman Military Barracks, an area close to Mrs Taylor’s own residence.
Senator Taylor recently completed the placement of street signs in Gbarnga as part of efforts to fulfill an earlier promise made to the people of Bong County.
This move has triggered claims and counter claims in Bong County, as some residents have threatened to forcefully remove it if the City fails to have it remove.
Some of the residents said the Bong County Senator has done nothing for the county, adding that here is no need for her to be honor with a name of a street.
According to a document in the possession of this reporter, the names of fourteen streets were presented to the Bong County Senator for the placement of the street signs excluding the Taylor Street that she is claiming.
‘’I have invited members of the city council to investigate the matter in seventy two hours (72hr),” Gbarnga City Mayor Viola N. Cooper said.
But the Chairman of Senator Taylor’s Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) Bong County chapter and Representative Elect of electoral District 3, Josiah Marvin Cole said the action of the Senator Jewel Howard Taylor is welcoming adding, “she is a Leader of the County.”
Cole said the erection of the Taylor street sign was agreed upon by members of the Gbarnga City Council during his administration at the Gbarnga City Cooperation to honour Senator Taylor, as she has served the County for twelve years.
He described the reactions by some local officials as “disheartening”. The representative elect on the ticket of Elect of electoral District 3 on the ticket of the CDC however did not provide any document or evidence to proof his statement during his leadership as the City Cooperation.
‘’Any attempt to remove the street sign bearing the name of Senator Taylor, the Gbarnga City Cooperation will receive hard resistance from the office of the Senator,’’Cole said.
Cole himself was dismissed recently, three months after his appointment as City Mayor for administrative reason.
His dismissal is said to have been masterminded according to sources by Viola Nyamah Cooper, the current Mayor..
When contacted the then Chairman of the City Council, Mr. Ansu Saysay denied Cole’s claims.
‘’During his stay at the GCC, there were issues discussed about the growth of the city but not to name a street after Senator Taylor,’’ Saysay said.
What prompted row?
Analysts have blamed the ongoing feud between the Gbarnga City Cooperation and Senator Jewel Howard political differences.
The Head of the Gbarnga City Cooperation, Viola Nyamah Cooper is a staunch supporter of the ruling Unity Party (UP) of Vice President Joseph Boakai, while Senator Taylor is with the main opposition CDC.
It was recently speculated in Gbarnga that when Senator Taylor is elected as Vice President of Liberia, Mayor Cooper might likely be dismissed as Mayor.
But one person who is sure to be following with interest the ongoing row of the newly created Taylor Street is sure to be former Liberian President Charles Taylor in far away Britain. He is currently serving a 50-year jail sentence in a British jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting the war in neighbouring Sierra Leone.