Liberia: 55th Legislature Records 1st Death
— Representative-elect Erol Madison Gwion is Dead
Grand Gedeh County District #1 Representative Erol Madison Gwion, Sr., is dead. He was 59.
He died nine days after his birthday (November 25) and four days to his official certification by the National Elections Commission, which is scheduled for Friday, December 8, 2023 at the E.J. S. Interministerial Complex.
His death on December 4 created the very first vacancy within the 55th.
The Grand Gedeh Representative met his demise in Ghana, where he was flown for advanced medical treatment.
His Chief of Staff, Justice R. Clarke, told the Daily Observer in a telephone conversation on Wednesday afternoon, that Rep. Gwion died Tuesday early morning.
Gwion was member of the House of the Representatives of the 54th Legislature. He succeeded Senator Zoe Emmanuel Pennoh, who was elected to the Senate after having represented the district for two-and-a-half terms (2006 to 2020).
From 2020 to his death (December 4, 2023), the late Gwion was regarded as “Talk and Do” in Grand Gedeh. It was a wide rumor that he was poised to replace Sen. Zoe Pennoh as Senator in 2029.
In 2021 and for the year 2022, the Gwion returned to his Constituency a record amount of US$30,000 and LR$1,194,000 in fulfillment of his voluntary promise to equally share his monthly salary with his People for the purpose of rolling out basic development initiatives that will benefit them.
He promised to do the same up to October, a claim the Daily Observer is yet to verify.
The late Gwion was overwhelmingly elected in 2020 on the ticket of the Liberia Restoration Party (LRP) and later joined the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). In 2023, he was decisively reelected during the October 10, 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections and was set to be certificated as a member of the 55th Legislature.
This is the second time a Representative died prior to their certification after having been announced winner of an election.
In 2011, Sinoe County District #3 Representative Nelson Wah Bah died after he was pronounced winner that year, while allegedly celebrating his re-election to the House of Representatives.