Liberia: Senator Jeremiah Koung, Francis Maweah Accused of Encouraging Guineans to Over to Nimba and Vote in Pending By-Election

Monrovia — One of the persons, who are set to contest in the by-election in Nimba County, Samuel Brown, has alarmed that Guineans are likely to actively participate in the up-coming election processes, including voting.

Candidate Brown’s wolf cry is rooted in an unverified video clip in which one of his contenders, Francis Maweah, and Senator Jeremiah Koung of Nimba County, are seen in a Guinean town bordering Liberia, allegedly soliciting votes.

The Elections laws are clear on foreign interference. Section 16, sub-section 5.1, 5.2 and 3.1 of the amended Election Laws states that there should be no foreign interference whatsoever, in the Democratic processes of Liberia.

In response to the allegation, Senator Koung admitted going to neighboring Guinea but said, his visit was to sympathize with the family of a mentally challenged boy who had died while attempting to get onboard his (Koung’s) campaign musical vehicle during the 2020 Special Senatorial Election.

Senator Koung: “I had gone there to sympathize with the family of a boy who had died during the 2020 elections while attempting to climb on a truck carrying my musical set during the campaign. While in Guinea, we were invited by the Liberian Community in Guinea to visit, and we honored that request there for that purpose.”

However, Contender Brown insists that was not the case. “Their visit to the neighboring country was not for holiday, neither was it to perform a governmental function. The singular purpose of their visit was to solicit votes from Guineans who have illegally voted in the Liberian elections since the Presidential and Legislative elections of October 2017,” he stated.

After the 2020 December Special Senatorial Election, Madam Edith Gongloe Weh challenged the result that allowed Senator Jeremiah Koung to be declared victorious. One of Madam Weh’s contentions was that Koung had allegedly brought in people from Guinea to vote for him.

Candidate Brown claims to have pieces of evidence in his possession, which he says convince him that the Nimba Senator didn’t fairly win the 2020 Special Senatorial election and he is using similar maneuvering to get his candidate, Maweah elected.

In the video clip in the possession of this newspaper, Guineans are heard promising to do what they did for Koung in the 2020 election. Candidate Brown also alleged that Senator Koung had earlier promised to do everything in his powers to win the election for his candidate Maweah.

Last week, Senator Koung and his entourage including local county officials and Candidate Maweah traveled to Dieckie, a town in Guinea under heavy security escort.

Senator Koung is the immediate past Representative of District #1, which is now being contested over by Brown and others, including Maweah.

Candidate Brown has forwarded every piece of evidence in his possession to his legal team in order to pursue his case with the National Elections Commission and the court.

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