PHOTO: The man taking over the helm of the Bar leadership, Cllr. Rennie
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
GANTA, Liberia- The incumbent Vice President of the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA), Cllr. Sylvester Rennie has defeated his three rivals to become the new President of the Bar, with a total of 218.
Cllr. Rennie, who served as VP to outgoing President Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe, defeated his contenders Cllr. Jallah A. Barbu, who obtained 129 votes; Cllr. Alihaji Swauho Sesay got only13 votes; and Cllr. Abrahim Sillah obtained 140 votes.
The LNBA is umbrella organization govern and regulate the conduct of lawyers in the country.
Lawyers in the queue to vote for their leaders on Saturday
Cllr. Rennie was declared winner of last Saturday’s polls in the early hours of Sunday November 28,2021 during the close of the Bar’s convention held in the Ganta, northeastern Liberia, 265 kilometers from Monrovia.
Cllr. Chris Dehtho becomes Vice Pres.
For the Vice President position, Cllr. Jemal Christopher Dehtho, a former Associates Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of law obtained a total votes of 251 while his contender Cllr. Bobby W. Livingstone who is the outgoing secretary of the Liberian National Bar Association obtained 215 votes.
The election started at about 10 Am Saturday morning, November 27, 2021 and ended on Sunday November 28, 2021 at 6am.
Also, Cllr. Bornor M. Varmah was elected as Secretary General of the association, with a total votes cast of 294 while his contenders Luther N. Yorfee obtained a votes of 41, Cllr. Jura A. Lynch obtained 55 and Atty. Lamii Kparquoi got a votes of 85.
As for the Treasurer position, the incumbent treasure of the LNBA Rachell Yorbah Duobeh obtained 254 votes, and her contenders Atty. Mameita Jabateh Sirleaf together got a total of 212 votes.
Invalid votes recorded
It is worth noting that in the voting for Treasurer, there were three misplaced ballot papers with 9 invalid votes. And for election of the National Secretary General, there were three misplaced ballot papers with one invalid vote, according the LNBA elections commission.
As for the Vice President ballot box, it has ten invalid votes and President two invalid votes.
The total invalid votes obtained from the entire election was process was twenty-two and total votes cast of 476.
Also ten lawyers were elected as Executive Committees member will help in steering the affairs of the institution.
Some of those appointed are Sundaway Nelson Amagai, Cllr. Dr. Mohammed Shaway, Jimmy Bombo, Atty. Lawerence Tomah among several others.
The LNBA election commission was chaired by Cllr. Cyril Jones and Co-chair by Cllr. Darku Mulbah, Liberia’s former Solicitor General along with others members of the commission.
Furthermore, there was several resolution drafter and it is expected to be adopted by members of the resolution committee.
In an exclusive interview with Cllr. Sylvester Rennie, the LNBA president elect said that his administration will be inclusive added even though he won the election but he feel that every member of the LNBA has won.
Cllr. Rennie called on his contenders to join hands together in carrying their institution to another levels.
For his part, the Secretary General elect Cllr. Bornor M. Varmah in a joyful mood told journalists in an exclusive interview that his position will work with everyone including the media community to the better of the institution.
As for the Cllr. Dehtho, the Vice President elect said that even though his presidential candidate didn’t win the election, but he will work along with Cllr Rennie to see the Bar on the right trajectory.
Meanwhile, Cllr. Sillah one of the defeated presidential candidates in a joyous mood congratulated the elect of the Bar and promised to work with them for the better of their institution.
Prior to the commencement of the election process, on Saturday morning, members of the Bar paraded the main streets of Ganta city.
The parade was headed by Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin, who is now head of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and Cllr. Pearl Brown Bull and other senior lawyers.