LIBERIA: UNITY PARTY SETBACK IN BY-ELECTION FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L MONROVIA 000169


E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID CASC LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA: UNITY PARTY SETBACK IN BY-ELECTION FOR
SENATOR

Classified By: Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield for Reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: In a severe setback for President Sirleaf's
Unity Party, its candidate, Liberia's Permanent
Representative to the United Nations Conmany Wesseh, lost a
senatorial by-election run-off in River Gee County to
Nathaniel Williams (Liberia Destiny Party),a River Gee
Senator during the Taylor regime. Wesseh's loss indicates a
growing public perception that the Unity Party is full of
"big city" people who take advantage of poor rural farmers
for their own gain. There were accusations on both sides of
unethical campaign tactics. Notably, Williams campaigned in
villages with AmCit missionaries whom he portrayed as
potential investors. Overall, the National Elections
Commission (NEC) did an excellent job independently managing
this by-election, thanks in part to International Foundation
for Electoral Systems (IFES) training through USAID. Post
sent observers to both the February 10 first round elections,
and the February 24 run-off. End Summary.

UN PERM REP LOSES TO FORMER SENATOR
--------------


2. (U) The NEC announced the official results February 26 of
the February 24 run-off in the River Gee County by-election
to replace the late Senator Isaac Jackson. Former Taylor-era
River Gee Senator and Liberia Destiny Party candidate J.
Nathaniel Williams won the race with 3,498 votes (52.8%).
Liberia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and
Unity Party Candidate Conmany Wesseh received 3,123 votes
(47.2%).


3. (C) Both candidates ran a hard and sometimes negative
campaign. Williams campaigned with the message that he
better represented the poor rural farmers of River Gee than
the elitist, intellectual Wesseh who left the county for the
bright lights and big city of Monrovia. (Williams spent 18
years himself in the United States in Washington, DC and
Minnesota.) Williams' campaigners convinced villagers that
the spirits were backing Williams. Williams falsely claimed
that Wesseh was rejected by the United Nations as a Permanent
Representative because he was corrupt. Wesseh countered that
he had presented his credentials in New York but ran for
Senator instead because he sincerely wanted to help the
development of his native county. Wesseh attempted to
convince voters that Williams was illiterate (in a meeting
with Emboff, Williams did appear barely literate) and would
not be able to represent River Gee in the Senate. President
Sirleaf visited River Gee prior to both rounds in support of
Wesseh, and the Ministry of Public Works built a bridge in
River Gee (the only completed bridge this dry season of the
27 planned bridges.) There were accusations that Wesseh was
giving out rice for votes, but there has been no confirmation
of that, and the story may have been disinformation.

AMCIT MISSIONARIES POSSIBLY CAMPAIGNING WITH WILLIAMS
-------------- --------------


4. (C) However, one William campaign tactic resulted in
Embassy involvement. Following the first round February 10,
Minister of Justice Philip A.Z. Banks informed the Embassy
that two "Caucasian" missionaries with the West Africa
Children's Support Network (WACSN) were in River Gee and were
being brought to villages and presented as American investors
who will bring investment to the county if Williams is
elected. The Minister's call came after Wesseh lodged a
formal complaint with NEC and MOJ that these AmCits were
interfering in the campaign. Banks warned that the Americans
would be arrested if the MOJ determined the missionaries were
violating Liberian law by engaging in a local election, and
asked the Embassy to contact the missionaries to ask them to
desist. (Note: Embassy observers noted a WACSN vehicle
apparently taking voters to the polls, but did not note the
presence of any white missionaries. End Note.)


5. (C) Treating the matter as a Welfare/Whereabouts case,
Consul contacted WACSN head Maria Luyken to convey the
Minister's message. Luyken denied that the missionaries were
involved with the campaign. However, when PolOff, as one of
the Embassy's observers, called on Williams on February 25,
Luyken was present and said WACSN and all of its pastors
supported the "holy" activities of Nathaniel Williams and
therefore agreed to travel with him around River Gee County
as he visited villages. She brought two AmCit female
volunteers (both 21-year-old single females) to live in
Williams' mud house in Fishtown for six months. Williams
admitted to PolOff he took the young women around to River
Gee communities to tell people in the Grebo vernacular that
"American investors like these will come if you vote for me,"
but Luyken maintains the women did no campaigning themselves
and have never been interested in politics. In the end,
while the Liberia National Police gave the women a formal
warning that they would be arrested if they continued to
attend campaign events with Williams, the two were not
arrested.


6. (C) WACSN is a network of approximately 1,000 evangelical
pastors from the United States and Liberia that supposedly
supports charitable activities in Liberia. The organization,
however, has been suspected of fraud and was shut down as an
adoption agency in Liberia January 9. It is not clear
whether WACSN's active support of Williams was an attempt to
embarrass Sirleaf for the GOL decision to shut down the
adoption agency.

ELECTION FREE AND FAIR
--------------


7. (U) The NEC did a good job of managing this election
independently. Emboffs observed 33 out of the 58 polling
stations and found the process in both rounds ran smoothly
and transparently everywhere. All NEC officials were
well-trained thanks in part to the USAID-funded training of
poll workers through IFES. The Liberia National Police was
present at all stations to provide security. UNMIL support
was limited to financial and some transportation (six polling
areas were reachable only by helicopter). One man was
arrested in Fishtown for attempting to use another man's
voter registration card (he was caught by NEC's polling
station ID-checker). Neither one of the two parties made any
complaint as to how the election was handled. UNMIL and
local NGOs observing the election also agreed it was free and
fair. Voter turnout was only 31.1%, but the NEC advised us
that many River Gee voters have permanently migrated to
Monrovia and will probably register there for the 2011
Presidential Election.


8. (SBU) The only serious misfeasance by a GOL official we
observed was that River Gee Elections Magistrate Gbaye
Sylenyentu, the highest-ranking NEC official in River Gee
County, pulled his pickup off to the side of the road and
drank palm wine at about 11:30 in the morning. Emboffs
passed him again in the same spot about one hour later and he
was still drinking, and clearly under the influence. Emboffs
informed Deputy NEC Chairman Elizabeth Nelson, who was in
town for the election, and she severely reprimanded
Sylenyentu. His case will be dealt with at NEC headquarters
in Monrovia in the near future.

WHAT THIS LOSS MEANS FOR UNITY PARTY
--------------


9. (C) Chairman of the Unity Party Dr. Charles Clarke told
PolOff February 26 the party will rethink its entire outreach
strategy following Wesseh's loss. He said that Wesseh faced
an uphill battle to win because Williams was regarded as "a
founding elder of River Gee." Even President Sirleaf's visit
to the county and an increased emphasis on development
projects there was not enough to gain the majority of the
votes. Clarke called the people of River Gee "ignorant" for
choosing an uneducated local over someone who could really
improve their lives. He acknowledged, however, that Unity
Party must do a better job of taking local preferences into
account and selecting electable candidates in the future.
(Note: This seemed to be a reference to the local Unity
Party's preferred candidate of Jonathan Boy Charles Sogbie.
When he was bumped off the Unity Party ticket by Wesseh, he
ran independently and placed a close third in the first
round. Some analysts believe he could have beaten Williams
because he had better ties to River Gee than Wesseh. End
Note.)


10. (C) Wesseh's own future is not clear. In anticipation of
a Wesseh victory, President Sirleaf asked UNHCR Africa
director Marjon Kamara to take on the UN PermRep position in
New York and Kamara accepted. We understand that Kamara was
Sirleaf's first choice to replace Nathaniel Barnes, but
Kamara declined, so Sirleaf turned to a reluctant Wesseh.
This time, Kamara has already given her resignation to UNHCR,
and it is doubtful Sirleaf will now turn back to Wesseh.
Wesseh told us he would meet with Sirleaf on March 2, and
would have a better idea of his future after that meeting.

COMMENT
--------------


11. (C) Despite the results, the Unity Party remains the
strongest party at the present time and its influence
continues to grow. However, Wesseh's loss demonstrates the
greatest weakness of the party -- the perception among rural
voters that it is filled with Sirleaf cronies there to enrich
themselves. It is unfortunate that Wesseh fell out of touch
with his native remote, rural River Gee and could not connect
with the local Unity Party machine and the voters in any
meaningful way, despite all he had to offer. His loss has
already made the Unity Party rethink how to reach out to
rural and uneducated people at their level. Overall, NEC did
a superb job running this election and it continues to be one
of the cleanest and best-managed GOL entities. USAID's money
was well spent on the IFES program, but NEC will need
continuing financial assistance and training in preparation
for the 2011 Presidential and Legislative elections. We will
continue to monitor the welfare of the two young AmCit
volunteers living in Williams' compound.

THOMAS-GREENFIELD