BUCHANAN – Scores of residents in Grand Bassa electoral district #2 are pleading with President Weah to reconsider his decision to stop Superintendent Janjay Baikpeh from contesting in the upcoming elections.
Supporters of the representative bid of the Superintendent came out of their towns and villages on April 9, 2023, chanting slogans “No Janjay, No Voting” after Janjay Baikpeh entered the district to register.
Several of them, including the Statutory Superintendent and a youth leader, expressed in a passionate plea that Supt. Janjay Baikpehis was their only hope, adding that Representative Mary M. Karwor has served for nearly 12 years but her efforts have not been enough to transform the district.
Madam Nancy Greene, Glarkon Statutory Superintendent, who has been a staunch supporter of Madam Karwor, told a team of independent investigators that she was instructed by her lawmaker to support Supt. Baikpeh since 2018, and she’s not willing to let go of the superintendent for anyone.
“Madam Mary Karwor has served for almost 12 years now, but only Janjay Baikpeh has been helping to send our children to free school, building markets, providing loans for women, creating an avenue for motorcyclists, and many more developments that have caught our attention and convinced us to vote for him”.
She continued, “The President’s name is known in District #2 only because of Supt. Baikpeh, and so if the President stops Janjay Baikpeh, it means he’s depriving the people of District #2 their right to democracy”.
In another statement, Christian Philips, the youth chairman of the district, posted on social media, calling the attention of the public to allow both Rep. Mary Karwor and Sup. Baikpeh to get into the race to know who has the number.
He stressed, “I am asking the President to stop spoiling his own votes in District #2 because it is because of Janjay Baikpeh that the CDC now has a strong base in District #2”.
“It will be totally unacceptable for the people of District #2 after working with Janjay Baikpeh for years and trusting his leadership for all our efforts to go in without yielding the positive result we are awaiting”.
Philips mentioned that President Weah needs not force Rep. Mary Karwor on them, stressing that they supported her twice and she served.
“Rep. Mary Karwor said she wasn’t contesting, so she asked us her supporters to support Janjay Baikpeh, but in the dying minute, she bounced back saying she wanted to contest, which we won’t support”.
Thomas Toe, another resident of the district, said in an awful tone, “The President made me cry because Janjay Baikpeh has lifted the name of the President here too high to the extent that some of us have joined the CDC; if he does that to us, for me I will tell all my supporters not to vote anyone in the district, including the President”.
The citizens made the calls upon hearing that President George Weah has asked Superintendent Baikpeh to bakeoff the 2023 presidential and legislative elections.
The decision of the President has sparked major concerns among people from diverse political backgrounds as to why the President would stop his staunch supporter, who appears to be a winnable aspirant, from contesting.
However, it remains unclear as to whether Grand Bassa Superintendent will contest or not, but his supporters have continuously mentioned that President Weah needs to reconsider his decision, or else many of them will not vote.
Prior to President Weah’s decision, Supt. Janjay Baikpeh captured multiple petitions from diverse groups in Electoral District 2, including relatives of the incumbent.
The decision of the President has led to scores of citizens threatening not to vote if their interests are not allowed to be considered.
