Senatorial Candidate Edith Gongloe-Weh of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) has formally filed a bill of exceptions to the Board of Commissioners of the National Elections Commission on Wednesday, February 24 in Monrovia.
NEC’s hired Hearing Officer, Counselor Boakai P. Harris, stated among many things that the complainant failed to provide supportive evidence to her allegations of “Frauds and irregularities” complaint against the Commission including defendant Candidate Jeremiah Kpan Koung.
On Monday, February 22, NEC denied and dismissed complainant’s complaint against it and reaffirmed Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction or MDR’s candidate, Jeremiah Kpan Koung as winner in the Nimba County’s senatorial race held on Tuesday, December 8, 2020.
But the complainant’s legal team wants the rulings and final judgment to be reviewed and passed upon during an appellate review by the Board of Commissioners of the National Elections Commission.
Therefore, in a 7-page and 21 counts strong worded document submitted yesterday at the NEC, Gongloe-Weh accused the Hearing Officer of committing error and at the same time ignored important evidences throughout the hearing.
The team said when this is done, it would grant unto complainant such other relief as the hearing may deem just and right under the facts and circumstance of the case.
The lawyers then went further how the fact-finder committed reversible error during the hearings by not keenly listening to evidence produced by the complainant in the case and therefore distorted key evidence produced by the complainant raising issues not supported by the facts of the matter.
They said the Hearing Officer also relied prejudicially on an extraneous fact not supported by the evidence produced by both the complainant and the defendant in the entire case to raise issues.
“That Counselor Boakai P. Harris shows that he lacks complete knowledge of the elections law of the country by relying on an inapplicable provision of the elections law to issue number three of the ruling to rule against complainant,” Gongloe-Weh team noted.
They stated how the fact-finder committed error by not relying on his understanding of the case but by re-writing verbatim the issues raised by the defendant and answers to those issues.
The complainant’s legal counsels believe being that Harris lacks neutrality in the case he committed a reversible error when contrary to his exalted position as a Hearing Officer as it was one sided in the determination of the case.
“He did not consider any of those issues raised in the complainant’s legal memorandum covering the importance of those seals, tees and the fact that the ballots for the special senatorial election and the referendum were required to be placed in the same ballot box after counting,” they stated.
They advanced further that with consistent fact the Hearing Officer was not impartial, neutral and independent; therefore, he committed a reversible error in his summary.
The team explained how many times the fact-finder over-ruled the complainant’s counsel’s objection to three of the defendant’s counsels on ground that they were not licensed to practice law when he ruled that the issue of license is a technical issue that cannot be permitted in dealing with election disputes.
Gongloe-Weh believes that Harris ignored an important testimony of the complainant when she informed the hearing that a broken tee was found in Duo Town, Electoral District #8 in a nearby bush despite the tee was admitted into evidence.
It said the fact-finder also ignored witness’ Goba Selekpoh testimony regarding missing the misstatement of the votes for the three leading candidates, Gongloe-Weh, Jeremiah Koung, and Garrison Yealue in electoral Districts 4 and 5 were sitting in Karnplay without any security.
Gongloe-Weh’s legal counsels comprises of Counselors-at-law Gloria Musu-Scott and Frances Johnson-Allison, former Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia as well as Kuku Dorbor, Philip Y. Gongloe and Lawrence Tomah.
Others are J. Augustine Fayiah, Momolu G. Kandakai, Bobby Livingstone, Tiawan Gongloe and Allen Gweh.
The complaint was first heard at NEC’s local offices in Nimba County on December 12, 2020 before being transferred to the Commission’s headquarters in Monrovia.