What we know of the Electoral Violence in Nimba Bi-Election

 

 Claim: "Supporters of MDR candidate Samuel Kogar disrupt Edith Gongloe-Weh's campaign."

Source: Focus on Liberia

Verdict: Unproven. Though there was a clash between citizens at the campaign rally of Edith Gongloe-Weh in Tappita, we found no evidence that those individuals are supporters of Weh, Kogar or any of the candidates. 

Full Text: On 15th April, the Focus on Liberia, an online news source, captioned live coverage, "Individuals believed to be supporters of NDR candidate Samuel Kogar allegedly disrupt Edith Gongloe-Weh's campaign."

In the 5-minute, 14-second live video, a guy is heard complaining about someone hitting his car, which resulted in an exchange of words. 

Another fellow was also heard insulting Montserrado District 10 lawmaker Yekeh Kolubah, who is campaigning for Gongloe-Weh's senatorial bid; this led to even more tension, as can be seen in the video. 

A voice is heard in the video that supposes supporters of Samuel Kogar in Tappita were also beating on journalists after allegedly disrupting a peaceful gathering by Edith and supporters who were campaigning. A claim we are unable to verify.

As of the time of this, the live generated 77 reactions, 121 comments, and 61 shares.

With nine electoral districts, Nimba is one of the biggest counties in Liberia, known for its deeply rooted tradition and politically voter-rich culture. 

The county goes to a bi-election Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Already, seven candidates have been qualified by the National Election Commission, the body responsible for conducting national elections across Liberia. 

The current bi-election is being held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of notorious warlord Prince Yormie Johnson, who died last November. Both Kogar and Edith are vying for the seat.

Verification: Article 11(c) of the Liberian Constitution guarantees equal protection and due process, ensuring citizens can seek redress for electoral violence. 

 

The New Elections Law (2014) manages elections, with election magistrates handling disputes and offenses. The 2023 General Elections Regulations and Campaign Guidelines ensure the electoral process's integrity and safety. 

 

Electoral disputes are adjudicated through a multi-tier system, with penalties including fines and imprisonment, in line with international human rights standards. In 2023, the NEC entered into an agreement (2023 Farmington River Declaration) with all actors in that election to ensure a peaceful process. 

 

The declaration was also signed by all seven participants in Gompa City at a two day dialogue of inter-party consultative committee, committing themselves to a campaigning freely, void of any form of violenc

The commission on 31st March declared the political campaign open from 31st March to 19th April 2025, mandating all candidates to abide by the Farmington River declaration as they go about their campaign activities, thereby asking them to submit their campaign schedule to the commission's local magistrate office in Nimba County.

 

We contacted the local magistrate office to authenticate whether those candidates submitted their campaign schedules as mandated by the commission. When they respond, this article will be updated.

 

For further verification purposes, we found another Live video of the arrival of Gongloe-Weh in Tappita, surrender by predominately women.

                             

 

We found a 16th of April live video interview in which Madam Gongloe-Weh

 reacted to the situation. His reaction is found in the 4:10 to 6:50 minutes of the interview.

 

"The multiplicity of attacks makes it so challenging to even speak about one. We had a situation; unfortunately, to date, the vice president of the Republic, who has trusted himself in this election, has made no statement or any sort of condemnation that was a violation of our constitutional right to say that we cannot campaign in a specific locality in Nimba. Weh said, "It violates the Liberian constitution; it violates the elections law. We were clearly supposed to be in Tapitta; we stated that in our schedule."

 

Weh said, "Honorable Kogar people came driving their cars left-right in the crowd, trying to disperse the crowd and cause disturbance; this electoral violence is unacceptable, and then, everybody these days goes live; some people were going live, unfortunately; when these issues are flagged, they say you are trying to sensationalize the issue. I didn't take it live; other citizens did."

 

The good thing is we have citizens' journalism, so ordinary people are going live and speaking about it and the elections commission needs to flag these issues and take immediate and drastic actions according to the law.

We are also calling on the international community, our international partners, and the diplomatic community in Liberia to watch this because we are a global community; what affects Liberia affects little Nimba, which has an impact on Ivory Coast and Guinea, because we live in a close community and so we want our election to be peaceful.

 

Gongloe-Weh said, "We have to remain peaceful; everywhere we see other contenders, we will drive through and not come back. We want this election to be civil; there is no need to intensify the level of viral aggression and even physical aggression because your presence in your car and tendency to drive through a crowd are somehow distracting and it needs to stop." 

 

We have also reached out to the Kogar campaign team on the incident; when they respond, the article will be updated.

 

Cecelia Clarke is a police spokesperson. We contacted her to establish whether the police were aware of any such situation and/or made any arrest thereof. When she replies to our inquiry, we will update the article.

 

Conclusion: Yes, there was electoral violence, but no clear evidence to prove those in the heated acquisition are supporters of Kogar.