By Kingston S. Kolleh
The former Superintendent of Rivercess County, Wellington Geevon Smith says that he will be contesting in the forthcoming midterm Senatorial Election in the county as an Independent Candidate.
Speaking at the offices of this Paper yesterday, Mr. Smith said that his attention was drawn to a newspaper publication yesterday that he is among several would-be aspirants seeking political Parties’ endorsement saying that the story is false and misleading.
According to him, the people of Rivercess County, his nativity had since December 2018, petitioned him to contest as an Independent Candidate in the 2020 midterm Senatorial Election disclosing that he is their servant so he wholeheartedly accepted their petition.
He further stated that they again mandated him at a mass meeting in Cesstos City, Capital of the county last year adding that the citizens believe that he understands and capable of solving most of their problems; that’s why they want him to be an Independent Candidate.
The former Assistant Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs & Tourism (MICAT) indicated that when he served as the Superintendent of the county for five years in President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Government, he built a holistic good human relationship with the people void of political, social or any other factors.
“They reinforced their decision on the 14th of July 2020 at a mass meeting in Cesstos City. This is a clear indication that I am not seeking endorsement from any political party,” he stressed.
Mr. Smith then pointed out that disunity in the county is seriously affecting development activities in Rivercess County which he considered as a core issue dividing the county.
He said another factor is that the county Senators in the Legislature intends to manage or run the day to day administrative activities of the county thus usurping the functions of the Superintendent recalling that when he assumed the leadership of the county, he noticed that a sitting Senator of Rivercess County was a signatory to the county’s account and signing every contracts.
“I changed that system because it was against the Constitution of Liberia so they started fighting me,” he said.
The renowned Media Executive who hails from both Timbo and Yarnee Statutory Districts boasted that he was the only Superintendent who left office and made a financial report at which time the bank balance of the county was in the tune of US$16,000 and challenged his critics to prove him wrong.
“My administration completed the construction of four Commissioners’ residence and offices in Zarflahn, Nynorwein and Central Rivercess among others,” Mr. Smith narrated.
He explained that when the Cesstos High School was at the verge of being relegated by the Ministry of Education (MoE) due to lack of trained teachers, he encouraged 13-University of Liberia (UL) graduates from the county to return home purposely to teach at the Cesstos High School thus stabilizing the situation. He stated further that his administration also gave US$110,000 to Rivercess University students attending universities in the country as ‘Students’ Empowerment’.
“We built a modern home for the people who are living with disabilities as well as offices for the Elders of the county. So I know exactly what the people need which I worked assiduously and achieved some of them,” he stated.
He however assured the citizens that he is going to work in the supreme interest of all so that the county can be unified again relative to development initiatives as Rivercess is their common denominator.