President Weah & Vice President Taylor
By Patrick Tokpah (Bong contributor)
Amidst political bickering and widespread speculations over who becomes the next President of Liberia in the 2023 General and Presidential Elections, Bong County Electoral District 1 has vowed not to vote George M. Weah as President if he cannot appoint a son or daughter in a ministerial position in his government.
The Kokoyah residents, speaking through their former Statutory Superintendent, Joseph Weleteh, said it is frustrating to see qualified sons and daughters of Bong County who have not been given a ministerial position in a government that they voted for.
In the 2008 Census, Bong had a population of 328,919, making it the third most populated county in Liberia.
The county proved crucial to President Weah’s ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the 2017 Presidential Elections, winning the county in both the first and second rounds.
Mr. Weleteh said for example, one of the most frustrating things is that former Senator Henry Yallah who contested on the CDC ticket during the 2020 special Senatorial Election and lost, is yet to be appointed by the government in the county.
The citizens said they will not support President Weah’s re-election bid if he fails to appoint a native of the county as a cabinet minister ahead of the 2023 General and Presidential Elections.
The Bong County residents who hugely supported the CDC in the 2017 elections believe it is “unthinkingly wrong” for a county with a huge population to be ignored by the Weah-led government.
The Kokoyah Statutory District Former Superintendent alleged that the Weah-led government is being dominated by people from the South-east, terming it as a geographically irrelevant region of the country’s population.
“The last native of Bong to serve in President Weah’s government was former Agriculture Minister Dr. Mogana Flomo, who was appointed in 2018 and got dismissed in 2019,” Weleteh noted.
“We will campaign against Weah and Taylor because they have ill-treated us as citizens and as a county who supported their election as President and Vice President of Liberia respectively, but they have paid us with bad treatment,” Weleteh added.
The former Kokoyah Statutory District Superintendent further described the alleged act of the CDC-led government as a mockery to the residents of Bong County.
Like Kokoyah residents, many Bongese especially prominent sons and daughters of the county including Nimba County have shared similar views about the “marginalization” of the county in the current government.
The Kokoyah Statutory District former Superintendent made the statement in an interview with this paper on January 15, 2023, via mobile phone from the District after a mass meeting with residents concerning their planned action ahead of the 2023 elections.
