Don't Compromise the Impending Elections in Liberia

                                                                   Be warned:

The National Elections Commission and President Sirleaf must not compromise the 10 October 2017 presidential and legislative elections.

On 17 September 2017, President Sirleaf met with the 19 Magistrates of the National Elections Commission and a select group of members of the Board of Commissioners of NEC including its Chairperson, Cllr. Jerome Kokoya.  At that meeting, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) who is also the Resident Coordinator of the UN Country Team and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of the UN was present.

Based on our intelligence, one major thing occurred during that meeting. We are reliably informed that the President and team present have committed to give each magistrate twenty thousand United States Dollar ($20,000. US). The reasons for this are for them to sway the elections result in favor of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), and accommodate one thousand (1000) poll supervisors in four of the vote rich counties including Montserrado, Nimba, Bong, Lofa and Grand Bassa.  The One thousand names are said to come from the CDC. Based on our intelligence, an additional 700 names from the CDC have been suggested by Chairman Kokoya to become poll supervisors in the rest of the eleven counties.

It is bad and unacceptable to approach magistrates on such matters. They are being pressured daily to replace elections supervisors that have been recruited with partisans of the CDC. Obviously, the ultimate intent of this is to compromise the outcome of the 10 October 2017 Presidential and Legislative Elections. We strongly condemn this malicious maneuvering and wish to send a strong warning to those involved. Any attempt to compromise the results of the impending elections would meet a stiff resistance from the social democratic forces of the Land.

It is also unacceptable for the UN Resident Coordinator to begin having meetings with the President, magistrates and some Board of Commissioners at the private residence of the President. If he has good intentions, he must hold meetings either at UN premises or at the offices of the National Elections Commission.

May God guide our steps as we move to elections day.