Bishop Nimley J Donyen
My Dear and Dedicated Supporters:
I won the Representative Seat of Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia during the October 10, 2023 General and Presidential Elections held in Our District.
If I had not won, the recount of the ballots would have taken place before the runoff election of November 14.
The recount has to take place. There is no other way to determine who won Our District. The man who was announced winner did not win. He won by manufactured votes which do not exist in the ballot boxes.
Threat To NEC?
Some officials of NEC are complaining that my supporters are threatening them. I have been advised to urge my supporters to desist. This is the first time I have got this kind of complaint.
I used my facebook page earlier, and I am using this page to appeal to all my supporters to make no threatening statement against anybody, especially the staff of NEC at this time. We don’t have this kind of history.
My simple request to NEC to bring the tally sheets of the 128 polling places to be examined, and to bring the ballot boxes to recount the ballots is taking more than six weeks to investigate.
My Dear and Dedicated Supporters, You need to be on the watch so that those who do not want to give us justice may not get involved in some tactics to falsely accuse us in order to divert attention from our request.
Throughout the campaign, my supporters did not threaten anybody. I want my supporters to maintain this nonviolent manner that has protected our image since we became a political body.
I wish to appeal to NEC to order the recount of the ballots. I want to remain a complainant at NEC. I don’t want NEC to accuse me falsely in order to cover up the mistake made by announcing a winner who did not win.
Duress
The Board of Commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia amazed all of us on Tuesday November 28, 2023, by ordering the judge, who felt bound in conscience to recuse himself from hearing my complaint, to hear and make a decision or judgement within seven days.
I am not a lawyer. But from what I know, My Dear and Dedicated Supporters, the case is still in our favor.
When the judge made the mistake of rejecting the evidences I displayed in court, because, what I had on hand were photocopies, even though I mentioned in my testimony which I made under oath that the original copies of the tally sheets were in the custody of the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia, it looked like I had no case again. No! I still had a case. Numbers were changed on tally sheets to decrease my votes, and to increase the votes of the man who was announced winner.
I can never have the original copies of the tally sheets of the election held in Our District on October 10. I said in court, and under oath, that I knew where the original copies of the copies I was showing to the judge were. The original copies of the tally sheets are in the custody of the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia. Let NEC bring the original tally sheets so that a comparison can be made. This is one of my requests to NEC.
Even if I had not said it, custom and practice support the presumption that, in the Republic of Liberia, at the end of voting, when the ballots have been counted and the number of votes for each candidate are recorded, and the tally sheets are signed by poll watchers and NEC official representatives, after this time, only the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia alone can legally have custody of the original copies of the tally sheets. NEC should make it simple by bringing the original copies of the tally sheets to be examined.
Another good thing that has happened to us is the decision that NEC made on Tuesday November 28, 2023. NEC says that the judge who voluntarily recused himself was wrong. So he should come back to judge the case. This is good news for us My Dear and Dedicated Supporters.
To force someone to perform an act, or ordering a judge who recused himself from continuing to hear a case, to return to hear the case and pass a judgement within seven days, is nothing less than ordering the judge to act under duress.
My Dear and Dedicated Supporters, this decision is also in our favor. If the judge agrees to preside over the case, he will be doing so under duress. Let us sing Alleluia! See how good God is to us. Alleluia! Whichever way they turn, things are in our favor.
Notwithstanding, the decision made by the Board of Commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia shocked me. Are we Liberians no longer sympathetic? The judge’s mother died at the end of last month. It is not even one month since the judge buried his deceased mother. Yet, the Board of Commissioners of NEC says that the judge was fit to preside and make reasonable decisions.
Maybe, laws of sympathy or laws of bereavement have to be made in Liberia. Thanks for the humane law which gives maternity leave to a woman who gives birth. But a law of bereavement has to be made in Liberia to give a vacation to an employee who lost a mother, father or child or someone very dear. Bereavement causes some psychological disorientation. It takes some time for one to be focused.
Maybe a law of bereavement exists. But if it exists, why is the Board of Commissioners of NEC refusing to accept the voluntary recusal of the judge who was hearing my complaint, whose mother has just been buried – a judge who is psychologically and culturally unfit to preside over such a case and make an impartial judgement?
Faith-Based Influence
Some people say my Catholic status is playing a vital role in my case that is at NEC. The rumors say that some of the commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia are Roman Catholics and I am an Independent Catholic. The rumors say that these commissioners who are Roman Catholics at NEC do not want me, an Independent Catholic, to be announced winner and commissioned as Representative of District Number Two Montserrado County Republic of Liberia, which I won. I can’t prove this. I don’t know whether it is true. But it is a rumor.
However, in District Two Montserrado County, the lady who heads all activities of NEC in Our District is a Roman Catholic. She doesn’t hide her stance on my case. She has said it in public, not in some secret place, “No matter what Bishop Donyen does, he will never be representative.”
Unfortunately for this fanatical Catholic lady, she doesn’t know that the Catholic Church does not strangulate democracy. Democracy allows people to chose their leaders. The Catholic Church does not condemn this democratic principle.
To this lady and, if it is true that some commissioners on the NEC Board who are Roman Catholics are against my victory, I say, thank God you are Catholics. I won the election. Prove that you are a good Catholics. Do what a good Catholic should do when a person wins an election. Mother Church will honor you.
I wish to also say that being a Catholic obliges one to respect the voice and action of God. Remember the Catholic maxim or adage : “Vox Populi Est Vox Dei.” Meaning, the “The voice of the people is the voice of God.” In a democratic election, the people speak through their votes. If the people voted for me and you, a Catholic, are refusing to acknowledge or accept what God has said through the people’s votes, are you sure you are a good Catholic? Are you sure you want God’s “will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven?”
I pray the Representative Seat and the Office of Electoral District Number Two Montserrado County in the Capitol Building will not be vacant at the beginning of the 55th Legislature in January 2024.
My Catholic Faith
For those who do not know that I am very grateful to the Roman Catholic Church please start knowing it now.
In Liberian Roman Catholic History is a story of a priest called Fr. O’Hea. On February 10, 1916 the Liberian Army attacked Betu. Betu is a town in Grand Kru County. Besides the Roman Catholic rectory and the church house, the soldiers burnt down every house that was in Betu. Every elderly man and woman was killed by the soldiers. Children, teenagers and adults were massacred at Betu that day between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The soldiers secretly surrounded the town before they opened fire. So the soldiers killed a lot of armless and innocent people that day.
The two Roman Catholic priests who were at Betu had six Betu boys in their rectory. When the army captain saw the Betu boys in the priests’ house, he asked Fr. O’Hea to turn them over to be killed.
Fr. O’Hea refused to turn the boys over to the captain. The young 27 years old Roman Catholic priest told the captain, “Kill me first, before you kill them.” The captain could not kill the white man. So the six Betu children were not killed on February 10, 1916.
One of the six children whose lives Fr. O’Hea defended and saved was ,my dad, JarboKly Donyen. He was seven years old when the Roman Catholic priest saved his life on February 10, 1916. Unfortunately, all my dad’s elder brothers and sisters could not get to the Catholic Mission. The soldiers got hold of them and were killed that day. My dad was not killed because the Catholic priest risked his life to defend the six Betu children. All his elder brothers and sisters died in the massacre at Betu on February 10. This is why all who saw me grow up did see my paternal uncles or aunties.
I too would not be who I am today if the Roman Catholic Church had not prepared me for a heroic life. I live like a Christian hero because I believe my faith has been tested by the Catholic Church.
This is why I refused to leave the Catholic Faith when it was possible for me to leave. This is why I continue to practice the Catholic Faith. With the grace of God, I will remain faithful to the Catholic Faith until death.
Believe that I was raised and trained by the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has made me who I am. I am a Catholic. My spirituality is Catholic. Anyone who wants to do me bad because they think they are more Catholic than I am, should rethink beginning now. Maybe your Catholic Faith has not been tested by the Catholic Church so you think you are standing firm in Catholic spirituality. The Catholic Church has not tested your Catholic Faith that is why you are worried about my victory in the October 10 Election.
Religion Too?
Another dimension of faith-based influence that is being discussed in this District Two Case is that the four men who do the legal research for the Board of Commissioners of NEC, and write the legal opinions of the Board of Commissioners of NEC are Muslims – three are Mandingos, and one is Fula – but all of them are Muslims.
Also, one of the seniors in the data room at NEC is not only a Muslim, but a relative of the man who was announced winner of District Two. This is the reason for the manufactured votes in favor of the man who was announced winner.
Maybe this is the reason why the winner is saying the recount should not take place. If the ballots produced the winner, why are “they” against the recount of the very ballots that produced their so called winner?
It is said that the last man who writes the numbers for each candidate in the data room, for the commissioners to read in public, is a Muslim and a relative of the man who was announced winner. So here, it is not only religion, but consanguinity (blood relation) that has played and is playing a role. A recount of the ballots will put all doubts to a peaceful rest.
Let’s leave consanguinity and religion as one topic, and come to religion alone. The man who was announced winner is a Muslim. He does not want the recount of the ballots that made him the socalled winner. I am a Christian. I am calling for the recount, and, with the grace of God, I am not going to shut up or give up.
Since my complaint, NEC’s Board researchers – all of them Muslims – have never accepted anything that is in my favor. Everything *that* comes from NEC’s Board researchers who are always in favor of their Muslim brother and against me, a Christian.
I am a Christian, but I respect other people’s religions. I was trained to be religious tolerant. Here is the foundation of my religious tolerance. In partial fulfillment of my degree in Religious Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, I studied Islam for three academic years. So I respect Islam.
I am aware of the Muslim brotherhood which every good Muslim values. A Muslim will not ordinarily disappoint a fellow Muslim brother. I am aware of this. But should this respect for the brotherhood of Muslims change the physical results of the election of District Number Two, Montserrado County held on October 10, 2023?
I don’t think so. The votes cast by the People of Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia for their Representative, must be respected. Respecting the votes of the People of District Two is the same as respecting the People of District Two. Disregarding the votes of the People of District Two is tantamount to disrespecting the People of Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County.
Duty Of Christian And Muslims
Good Muslims are very respectful. Good Christians are very respectful. Let all of us Christians and Muslims alike respect the People of Our District. Let’s recount the votes cast by the People of Our District so that all of us will respect the one whom God has worked through us to choose as Our Representative. At the end of this recount, if it is true that I lost, I will concede and congratulate the winner. But as I write, because of the information on the 128 tally sheets, I believe that I won the election.
While I don’t personally know those Muslims who are staff of NEC, I wish to tell them that though I am a Christian, I have been enjoying a good relationship with the Muslim Community over the years. Some Muslims supported me during the campaign period, and a lot of Muslims voted for me. The strange behavior of these Muslims working at NEC should not portray that there is a Muslim-Christian rivalry in District Number Two, Montserrado County.
Because I believe in religious freedom and tolerance, Muslim and Christian youngsters alike benefit from my grade school and university scholarships. Muslims and Christian traders benefit from my micro loans. I don’t discriminate against Muslims. For example, I was the only candidate who invited all the Imams and Pastors to my place at different times to inform them that I wanted to be the representative of Our District. The Muslims at NEC should not make things look like Christians and Muslims are intolerant of one another in Our District.
I will not be proud of a Christian who works at NEC and manipulates results in favor of a Christian. I don’t expect you Muslims at NEC to manipulate anything in favor of a Muslim. We, Christians and Muslims should make every inch of Liberia a religiously tolerant place. Religious tolerance was one of the pillars of my campaign platform.
False Perception
The truth is, I won the election.
This is what I also heard: “They” manipulated the results of the election because “they” thought that since I am a bishop, I would not complain. So a person who did not win was announced winner. “They” suppressed my name because a bishop will accept it for peace’s sake.
“They” are surprised that this case can still be where it is. “They” thought this case would have been finished for a long time.
I am sorry to say that as long as “they” think “they” can keep relocating the truth to hide it, this case, with the grace of God, will be alive for a long time.
Thank God a true Christian bishop does not support anything that is not true. I will not be an exception.
All my supporters should believe that I am in this recount business until it is done and we know who won the election for our district seat.
I won the election.
If I had not won the election, the ballots would have been recounted before the end of October 2023.
God is our Helper. The ballots will be recounted.
We, the People of Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia, will know, from the recount, who we elected to represent us in the 55th Legislature of the Republic of Liberia.
We should not give up. The National Elections Commission will not impose a representative on Our District. The National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia must allow the recount of Our ballots.
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