The University of Liberia campus based Student Unification Party (SUP) has elected its new corps of leaders; thus electing for the first time a female standard-bearer.
Mary Kerkula leads history to becoming the first female standard-bearer in 52 years since the student-based political group was established.
Others elected were Mohammed S. Jalloh, Secretary General; Kelvin O. George, Assistant Secretary General; Olive Larmie, Financial Secretary General; George P. Carr, Treasurer; and Alvin M. Koffa as Co-chairperson for Governmental Affairs.
While supporters of Hagginson Kwein W. Kwein, II who was elected Chairperson and Kelvin Abu-lua Tuah as Co-chairperson for Party Affairs now engaged into fueling conflict by interchanging the positions already announced through legitimate votes cast, the outcome of the exercise is upheld through a thorough vetting and electoral exercise held by the party’s Congress Preparatory Committee (CPC) during the weekend in Monrovia but strangely the vanguard student-based political party is yet to introduce its leadership to the student body as it is usually done.
The officials were elected in line with the revised student handbook and the electoral commission of the party which announced the official results of the winners of the 31st General Congress of SUP.
Meanwhile, SUP has broken down political barriers, especially from state actors by defending the rights of students and the masses for academic freedom, unity, freedom of speech, socio-economic justice and peace. The party has firmly opposed anti-democratic elements in Liberia.
The party was very active in fighting alongside the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA), Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL) and other progressive groups for the pluralistic democracy Liberia now enjoys.
It is also accredited for the active role it played in helping to mobilize the warring factions during the Accra Peace Accord, which was the final peace agreement in the second Liberian Civil War.
On the other hand, the student movement strongly participates in the national decision-making process in Liberia, ranging from staging several protests to reaching common ground with different governments.
Through its constant agitation, the state-run University of Liberia has experienced many changes in its infrastructure and technological transformations that brought about the digitalization of its entire system.
Aside from this, SUP has provided opportunities for thousands of students through scholarship, mentorship, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
The Union Building, Palava Huts, Student Center, etc. are all projects implemented by SUP on the campuses of the University of Liberia.
The launch of SUP came in apparent reaction to the reported maltreatment meted out to Liberian citizens, including students, by a small empire of what was known as the autocrats.
For decades, the University of Liberia appeared to be one of the most intimidating environments where harsh treatment was given to native students and those who were not members of the old order.
There were rifts between children of upper and lower classes; the gaps of academic inequalities were as though education was a privilege and not a right.
At the state-run university, academic freedom was never guaranteed because oligarchs felt insecure and unsafe about competition in the future.
Students seeking higher education were denied access to learning facilities through the institution of unjust and divisive policies contrary to best practices worldwide.
In pursuit of higher education and other public benefits, some indigenous Liberians had no choice but to change their original identities in order to fit in.
But the year 1970, some of the university students realized that they were being treated unfairly which caused a shift and started a movement that had the courage to challenge the political power to ensure change.
From that time till now, the Student Unification Party has been widely known for the national cause despite its limited scope as a campus-based political party.
There have been three critical stages in SUP’s history. The first was between 1970 and 1979 when the student-based party stood up against and defeated oligarchy and oligarchs under the True Whig Party, which at the time was suppressing citizens.
Between 1980 and 1990, the party confronted and conquered military dictatorship and despotism under former president Samuel K. Doe. Between 1997 and 2003, SUP greatly fought the Charles Taylor administration for its level of gangsterism against innocent citizens.
During the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, there were several protests organized by the party as a result of alleged bad governance and the mass looting of public resources.
A majority of SUP’s protests yielded fruitful results as they were mostly called and asked to make suggestions on different issues they highlighted.
Some Liberians often brand the party as an opposition political party while others sees them as a group of disgruntled body with no interest in peace because of its militant posture.
Despite the many criticisms against them (SUP), they have in no way stopped their advocacy for a better Liberia for Liberians.
SUP outgoing Chairperson, Mustapha Kanneh, told the media that SUP’s advocacy is in the interest of Liberians, and the party does not support a particular political party or government.
With the continuous advocacy for freedom and civil liberty, the Student Unification Party has paid high prices in Liberia.
Some of its founding members either lost their lives or got seriously beaten and injured as a result of brutalities by state security.
The forerunners like Ezekiel Pajibo, Alaric Tokpah, Klohn Brownell, Dempster Yallah, Lucia Massalee-Yallah, James Fromoyan, and others for example, as student leaders of SUP in the 1980s, got into problems with the military government of former President Samuel K. Doe.
Pajibo later fled into exile where he spent 18 years before returning home. The Belle Yalleh Prison was where notorious and hardcore criminals were taken when found guilty by the court.
Some members of the party were also imprisoned at the post stockade along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was once a political prisoner before becoming president in 2005.
Other instances of brutal violence perpetrated against members of SUP include the alleged murder of Momulu Lavala, Wuo Gabie Tappia, Benedict Garlawulo, Tonia Richardson, Wiwi Debbah, Henry Wylie, who was reportedly beheaded by then President Samuel Kanyon Doe.
Irene Nimpson, the women presidium chair at the time was shot on Broad Street in Monrovia during the 1979 rice riot.
The Student Unification Party organized a protest that was meant to call on the administration of the University of Liberia to reintroduce the face-to-face classes after the e-learning platform became dysfunctional during the heat of covid-19 which led to the closure of schools.
The protest, which took place in August 2021, turned brutal after the Liberia National Police engaged the unarmed students with severe force leading to the firing of live ammunition and tear gas. That protest saw the brutalization of many students and members of SUP.
The July 26 Independence Day celebration in 2022 saw one of the worst brutalities meted out against members of the party. Many of its members were brutalized as a result of a counter-protest by a group called the CDC Council of Patriots.
In July 2022, SUP staged a massive protest tagged “Fix the Country” during which they went to petition the US Embassy in Liberia to intervene in what they termed as despotism over economic failure, massive corruption, bad governance, and state collapse amongst other things allegedly being committed by the CDC government.
Kanneh argued at the time that SUP militants have and will continue to protect the institution by enduring every external threats of destruction from past and the current governments.
“A government that has betrayed the interest of the Liberian people, damaged the international reputation of our country and is now slowly dying,” the student movement disclosed.
“Today, corruption and opportunism have become a lucrative career for some political institutions and actors” a 2020 statement by SUP said.
