NEC Assigns Two Magistrates 

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Over Mont. Dist.#2 Electoral Dispute 

Following  the recusal of the Upper Montserrado County  National  Elections Commission (NEC)  Hearing Officer/ Magistrate, Atty. Patterson  Blamo  over the Montserrado District #2  electoral Irregularities case, the Commission  has  immediately assigned  two of their Magistrates  to continue  inquiring into the case.

The newly assigned magistrates  to continue  inquiring into the matter are,  Magistrate Lorpu Godfrey and   Festus Nowon who are expected to make their debut on Monday  November  27, 2023.

Atty. Patterson Blamo  recused himself from the case following the recommendation  made by  the  Montserrado District #2 representative  candidate in  2023 representative and presidential, Bishop Nimley J Donyen  legal  team during the  Tuesday  November  21, hearing at NEC headquarters in Monrovia,on ground that he has shown biasness and partiality which have  the propensity  to prejudice the outcome of the case

“You said you  lost your mother,  stayed away from the case for two weeks,  we requested further  action,  then you have come back to   show up and continue  the case? You must have an interest in our opponent,” Donyen Defense Counsel disclosed. 

Based on the request made by Team Donyen Defense lawyers, the NEC Magistrate,  Atty Blamo recused himself or stepped aside from the case  on Wednesday  November 22, to allow a free and fair trial. 

The drama  surrounding the district electoral case  started back in October following the NEC results  announcement in the October 10, legislative and presidential elections where Bishop Nimley J. Donyen  rejected  the    result and  calls  for a recount  as he claimed victory over his rival. 

Candidate  Donyen  is  claiming  victory  over  Unity Party Candidate,  Sekou Kanneh  with over 1000 votes  calling on  the National  Elections Commission (NEC)   to ensure a recount. 

Bishop Donyen said, ” I didn’t expect this to take such a long time. I thought the National Elections Commission would have understood that the campaign is expensive, and that I have invested a lot of money in the campaign. With this mindset, I thought NEC was going to call all the candidates in District Two Montserrado County to a meeting and inform us that a request for recount was sent by one of us. So each candidate should send one or two representatives to witness the recount. I believe the majority of the candidates would have agreed and the recount would have been done before the runoff presidential election of November 14th. Unfortunately, we don’t know when this recount will take place so that the People of District Two Montserrado County will know their Representative.”

Bishop Donyen  claims  victory  over his rival , ,Seckou Kanneh 

with 1317 votes margin  stating that he obtained a  total votes   of, 9,444  while Kanneh got  8,127 votes 

The case started on Tuesday October  24, at the Montserrado County National  Elections Commission  (NEC) , Hearing  Office in Bentol , listened  and transferred   at    NEC  headquarters  for enquiry.

On Wednesday  October 25, 

The National  Elections  Commission  (NEC), Hearing  officer, commenced the process  as  Bishop Donyen  claimed there was  an alteration  in electoral  tally  sheets  making him the victim  to  Unity Party  (UP) candidate,  Sekou Kanneh  Victory. 

In his complaint filed on  Wednesday  October  17. 2023 to the Hearing Officer  at NEC, he said  that Mathematics does not lie. 

“The tally sheets from the Nineteen Voting Precincts of Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, say that I got the highest votes in Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia, at the end of the October 10, 2023 General Election in said District.

“Unfortunately, the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia erred by not announcing me, Independent Candidate Nimely J. Donyen, as winner of the October 10, 2023 Election. I am therefore asking the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia to correct the mistake and announce  me, Independent Candidate Nimely J.  Donyen, winner of the Representative Seat of Electoral District Number Two, Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia. To make it easy for NEC to realize her mistake, I request a perusal of all the tally sheets and a recount of the ballots, ” Bishop Nimley claims. 

However,   he is calling on his supporters to remain calm and any deal to announce a wrong winner in the distrust  will meet strong resistance. 

He  claims , he is the winner of the election  and is demanding NEC to see an urgent reason to have their mistake corrected  or will use unspecified actions to protect  his votes. 

Speaking  with the UP candidate, Sekou Kanneh,  he failed to comment even though  Journalists were eager to speak with him.

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