Prompted 48 Hours Of Suspension Of CDC Campaigning, As EFFL Opposition Party Expresses Sympathy
PHOTO: The wreckage of the vehilce
By J. Peter S. Dennis, dennisrealone@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- Police in Bong County are investigating what caused the fatal accidents that left three female supporters of the ruling CDC party dead and left three other seriously injured dead in the central Bong County.
The Girls of Weah, an auxillary of the CDC, were en routeNimba County as part of ongoing campaign activities and the fatal accident immediately led President Goerge Manneh Weah, CDC’s presidential candidate to suspend campaigning for 48 hours.
When the tragic accident happened, President Weah on the campaign trail in Bomi County and he expressed shock and sorrow over the loss of his fellow partisans, Girls for Weah members,
President Weah said: “While we are in Bomi County here campaigning I have received with great sadness the news of the deaths of members of the Girls of Weah, a group championing the re-election of the CDC. This is really sad news and I want us to rise up to observe a moment of silence in memory of those whose lives have just been lost,” President Weah said while campaigning in Bomi Tuesday.”
Pres. Weah
The accident happened at about 5:30 (GMT) on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.
A yellow Nissan Primera taxi involved in the accident was heading towards Gbarnga reportedly collided with a truck on the Suakoko-Gbarnga Highway.
Eyewitnesses said the driver of the speeding taxi collided with the truck on the opposite lane around the Immigration Checkpoint in Gbarnga.
There were five females and a male on board the taxi.
The driver of the vehicle, Edward Dunn and two other persons were pronounced dead by medical personnel upon arrival at the Phebe Referral Hospital in Suakoko District, while three others sustained serious bodily injuries. Dunn was a resident of Suakoko in Bong County.
The identities of the five ladies remain unknown as the traffic division of the LNP in Bong County launch an investigation to ascertain the cause of the accident.
The head of traffic at the Liberian National Police, LNP-Bong Detachment Officer Mary Hawallen disclosed that the operator of the truck is currently in police custody, while the three other victims are being transferred to Monrovia for further medical treatment.
Meanwhile, the opposition party, Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia (EFFL) in a statement later said it was “saddened by the tragic motor accident that claimed the lives of members of the Daughters of Weah. EFFL expresses regrets that the victims’ met their untimely demises while exercising their democratic rights ahead of the October 10, 2023 General and Presidential Elections in Liberia”.
EFFL leader Emmanuel Gonquoi
The EFFL said it is joining families of the three young CDC supporters and the ruling party “in mourning their deaths and asks that the Lord Almighty/Allah receives their souls.”
In its statement the EFFL added: “Considering the number of road accidents in Liberia and offen occasioned by the loss of many innocent lives, EFFL asks ‘the Government of Liberia to invest more into road safety programs as part of national security measures so as to protect the lives of cherished citizens in the country. EFFL is troubled by data from road accidens, for which there is a need to institute clear strategies to minimize road accidents.”