Urges NEC To Immediately Rotate The Election Magistrates
PHOTO: Liberian Vice President, Jewel Howard-Taylor not comfortable with the Magistrate
By Esau J. Farr, esaufarr1980@gmail.com
“Most of the electoral Magistrates are corrupt,” declared Liberia’s Vice President and Vice Standard Bearer of the ruling CDC, when she addressed the 8th Edition of the Arch-Bishop Michael Kpakellah Francis Intellectual Discourse in Monrovia on Thursday, nine months to presidential and legislative elections.
VP Taylor then called for the rotation of the election Magistrates of the National Elections Commission (NEC), reminding citizens of a famous Liberian and African adage, ‘if catfish comes out of a river and says alligator is suffering from headache, then, who are you to deny?
The Vice President, who is referred to as Chief Nyesuah Sianneh Jewel Howard-Taylor, claimed that most current magistrates of the NEC are corrupt and have overstayed in one location or another, describing this as unacceptable.
The Liberian Vice President and Political leader of the former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) of now jailed former President, Charles G. Taylor, was speaking on January 2, 2023 on the theme, “Rising Insecurity, Misinformation, Money Politic and Efforts Diversion Treats to the 2023 Elections.”
Madam Howard-Taylor alleged, because most of the current magistrates of the NEC have overstayed their assignments, it has rendered them to comprise elections results.
She also accused them of accepting finance and gifts in advance to decide the winners of elections in several elections.
The NPP Political leader then used the occasion to call on the NEC to immediately rotate NEC magistrates and change their areas of assignment.
The CDC Vice Standard Bearer’s allegation against the election Magistrates comes amidst concerns from opposition politicians who have been calling for a complete overhaul of the entire leadership of the NEC, especially commissioners, beginning with the Chairperson, Madam Davidetta Browne-Lassanah who was investigated and found to allegedly be involved in graft by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC).
Many have expressed lack of trust and confidence in the leadership and the ability of the current leadership of the NEC, in the wake of the corruption scandal, ahead of the impending October 10 polls.
Also, the NEC has also been embroiled questionable procurement practices in the awarding of contracts not on a merit basis, dating back at the 2020 Special Senatorial Elections and most recent, the one that give rights to LAXTON to provide Biometric Voter’s Registration materials.
The NEC administration itself was split over the awarding of the contract to LAXTON, something that saw the Commission to abruptly delay the Voter’s Registration process, failing to start on December 15, 2022. It has instead been postponed and is due to start on March 20, 2023.
Such delay has even made matter worst to the extent that many political players fear that if the issue is not quickly arrested and dealt with, the country might run into constitutional crisis, with pro-democracy group like the Elections Coordination Committee, ECC warning that it could be a recipe for chaos.