MONROVIA-Former presidential candidate, Tiawan Saye Gongloe has referred to as on Nimbians to help the one feminine candidate within the upcoming consultant bi-election. Learn his speech.
“A Name to Conscience: Help Madee Kamah Wongbay— The Solely Girl within the Race for Nimba District 5 by Tiawan Saye Gongloe, former Solicitor Normal of Liberia, former Minister of Labor and former President of the Liberian Nationwide Bar Affiliation, Assistant Professor of Regulation, Louis Arthur Grimes College of Regulation, and 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Liberian Individuals’s Get together (LPP)
To the resilient ladies of Nimba County—at residence and within the diaspora,
To Vice President Jeremiah Koung,
To Senators Nya Twayen and Samuel Kogar,
To all Representatives from Nimba County,
To Superintendent Kou Miapeh Gono and her administration,
To the enterprise group of Nimba County,
And to each citizen who believes in equity, inclusion, and a greater future—
Nimba County is as soon as once more at a crossroads. Within the ongoing District 5 by-election, amongst eleven candidates, just one is a lady— Madee Kamah Wongbay. And but, Nimba has no lady within the Nationwide Legislature. This isn’t simply disappointing—it’s alarming.
What message are we sending to our daughters, our sisters, our ladies in class who dream of changing into leaders? Are we saying that legislative positions are solely meant for males? Are we constructing a society the place ladies are to be seen however not heard in issues of governance?
Traditionally, Nimba has not executed properly in freely electing ladies to the Nationwide Legislature. The primary lady to occupy a legislative seat was Catherine Cummings from Tappita, who was chosen, not elected, by the True Whig Get together caucus in 1969 after the loss of life of Senator Thomas Quelayne Harris. Then in 1975, Ma Yalama Duayen, the mom of former Superintendent Christiana Dagado, was chosen—once more by caucus—not by the vote of the individuals—to symbolize Sanniquellie-Mah District.
It was not till 1997 that Margaret Kermah and Annie Yeaneh grew to become Senator and Consultant, respectively. However they too weren’t elected by the individuals of Nimba. They entered the Legislature via the proportional illustration system, appointed by President Charles Taylor, not chosen by the votes of our residents.
The one lady ever freely elected by the individuals of Nimba County to the Nationwide Legislature since Nimba grew to become a county in 1964 is Hon. Nau Kidau, of District One—the Beinga space. That was one lady, greater than twenty years in the past.
We should change this story. We should not enable this chance to move. That is larger than politics—it’s a ethical name to appropriate a long-standing injustice.
We name on all ladies of Nimba County, wherever they could be, to unite and help Madee Kamah Wongbay. We name on Vice President Koung, our Senators, and Representatives to endorse her candidacy as an emblem of progress.
We name on Superintendent Gono, the enterprise group, and civil society to rise and make historical past.
That is an attraction to the conscience of the Nimba individuals, particularly the Nimba males. Allow us to not proceed to silence the voice of our ladies within the halls of energy. Allow us to elect Madee Kamah Wongbay as the subsequent Consultant of District #5. Allow us to present that Nimba is able to lead Liberia—not simply in dimension, however in justice, in equality, and in imaginative and prescient.
Allow us to vote for— Madee Kamah Wongbay for dignity, for stability, for the long run.
Thanks.”
Alphonso Toweh
Has been within the occupation for over twenty years. He has labored for a lot of worldwide media shops together with: West Africa Journal, Africa Week Journal, African Observer and did occasional reporting for CNN, BBC World Service, Sunday Instances, NPR, Radio Deutchewells, Radio Netherlands. He’s the present correspondent for Reuters
He holds first MA with honors in Worldwide Relations and a candidate for second grasp in Worldwide Peace research and Battle Decision from the College of Liberia.
