Rep. Kouga announces revolution in Nimba ahead of 2023
Nimba Politics: Ahead of the 2023 general and presidential elections, vote-rich Nimba County District #5 Representative Samuel Kouga has warned here that if any government believes that Liberia’s former feared rebel leader Senator Prince Yormie Johnson will run a one-man show in deciding which candidates Nimbaians will vote, it will be on a broken stake.
“But it won’t happen again. If they try it, I am telling you, if any government believes that this time that Nimba is a place for a one-man show, they will be on a broken stake. I can tell you for free,” Rep. Kouga warned during a live talk show appearance on local broadcaster OK FM Wednesday, 24 November 2021.
Kouga believes that the just-ended Nimba District #1 Representative by-election in which Mr. Samuel Brown emerged victorious ahead of Senator Johnson’s candidate, was a litmus test for those who always think that they simply need the former rebel leader’s backing to win an election in Nimba.
“We believe that those who supported, I mean or who fought the revolution at the time, if you check around, the memory is going out and there are young breed of people that are coming that are trying to change the political dynamism in Nimba,” argued Rep. Kouga.
“So this … is how the people voted. They listened to us when we preached to them and we said yes it is true, Senator Johnson will not always … be pulling us say y’all go this way when we go there, and then there is no dividend for the county. And we are aging,” Kouga continued.
“And what you saw in Ganta will be again exhibited in the 2023 election. I can tell you for free … It is a revolution that we are launching. We’re serious,” Kouga added.
In the by-elections conducted in Nimba, Bong, Bomi, and Grand Gedeh Counties this month, both the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) which Senator Johnson and his political party support, and the CDC’s main political rival, the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), did not win a single seat.
Many saw the outcome of the representative by-elections in the four counties as a wake-up call on the political players ahead of the pending presidential and general elections.
Kouga explained that the society in Nimba County was built in a way that the people were united and tolerant in handling situations.
According to him, whenever it came to decision-making in Nimba, its leaders used to consult, revert to their constituents, talk to the people and come up with ideas.
“But since 1990, the entire tradition has been eroded, so it has become one man show,” he added.
Kouga said he feels that at this time, children that were five years old when Mr. Johnson became Senator have now graduated from universities and they need jobs.
“And the only way they can have a job and not to be coerced that oh, I gave you this job, therefore what I say should be the forward march, is for us to be holistic in the process,” said Mr. Kouga.
He argued that all elected officials of the county should sit down with the elders, traditional council, chiefs, and women wing and discuss.
He contended that where an individual handpicks someone, it has a propensity to witch hunt, adding that those handpicked will be subjected to the dictates of whoever had picked them.
Rep. Kouga lamented that this is happening in Nimba County and it has brought dissatisfaction there.
According to the Nimba lawmaker, his party, the People Unification Party (PUP) gave its unflinching support to Mr. Samuel Brown, though he was not PUP’s candidate, and he won the election.
He also bragged that the PUP’s candidate in Bong County, Mr. James Kolleh won the election, adding that pretty soon, PUP will be talking about the presidency and it is working towards that.
Kouga indicated that Representative-elect Brown has done tremendously well in terms of improving the livelihood of the people of District #1, Nimba County, suggesting that the voters to let him down would have meant that they are not grateful.
“So they decided to live up to their commitment to him. But basically, people want to use power at the time to twist his hand to take the position, and there where some of us came in and we were strategically placed to places where we could screw all the bowls … near the power that be and quote on quote godfather and what have you,” said Rep. Kogar.
“So we told him that look, not everybody godfather can carry up and come down,” he added.
Kouga noted that “godfather’s” hand can be brought down with strategy, saying fortunately for them, “godfather’s” hand came down finally in the district election “and Sam Brown’s hand remains up and it’s still up.”
He noted that the “godfather he is speaking about is Nimba County Senator Prince Yormie Johnson, referring to the former warlord as a “purported godfather.”
“I always said it is an affront to God. You can’t call yourself God. Nobody should call you godfather, it’s not a good thing. We joke around here but it’s the fact that I am telling you. God doesn’t have a father. God has a son, Jesus,” said Rep.