Two Lawmakers Qualified for Lofa Senatorial by-Election
Representatives Mariamu Beyan Fofona (left) and Dr. George Beyan Samah
Two sitting Representatives have been qualified, along with four others, by the National Elections Commission (NEC) to contest in the Lofa County Senatorial By-election, slated for June 28.
The two lawmakers are Lofa County District #4 Representative, Mariamu Beyan Fofona, and Montserrado County District #12 Representative, Dr. George Beyan Samah. They will be joined by Momo Cyrus (Independent), Joseph Kpator Jallah (Independent); Galakpai W. Kortimai (Unity Party), and Sumo G. Kupee (People’s Unification Party).
In the event that one of the two sitting Representatives — Rep. Fofona or Rep. Samah — is elected, there will be yet another by-election to fill that person’s legislative seat. Rep. Fofana is a two-term lawmaker. She became a lawmaker in 2012, while Representative Samah has served his district since 2017.
The lone female candidate and five men were revealed on June 14, as part of the final list of six qualified candidates. On that day, the House of Representatives and Senate of the 54 Legislature, through a joint resolution, announced June 28, as the new date for the conduct of the Senatorial By-election.
The Joint Resolution is called LEG-001/2022. The ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and the now dysfunctional Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) are not fielding candidates to fill the vacant seat created by the disqualification of Senator-Elect, J. Brownie Samukai, following his criminal conviction by the court.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Davidetta Browne-Lansanah has revealed that 254,100 ballot papers for the by-election have arrived in the country, and are currently stored in the NEC Central warehouse under tight security, pending deployment.
“Additionally, the Commission brought in 477 tactile ballot guides to assist visually impaired persons during the voting exercise,” the NEC chair said.
She stated that about 2,000 temporary election workers have been recruited for the by-election, while five community-based organizations are participating in the NEC Civic and Voter Education (CVE) Cells.
“They have been hired to educate and inform the citizens of Lofa about the Senatorial By-election,” she stressed.