MONROVIA, Montserrado – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s recent meeting with 19 election magistrates of the National Elections Commission at her home continues to receive criticism.

Prior to her departure to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings, Sirleaf met with the magistrates including Jerome Korkoya, chairman of NEC, but the meeting has been described as ‘secret’ and has created suspicions among a public which has always viewed Sirleaf as a manipulative and savvy politician.

The latest prominent critic of Sirleaf’s meeting is Liberia’s former elections commissioner who was also a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, Frances Johnson-Allison.

Addressing a news conference in Monrovia, Johnson-Allison described the meeting as ‘ill-advised.’

“That did not happen when I served as commissioner of NEC,” she said. “I think it’s ill-advised to do something like that. These things, people need to understand that they give rise to suspicions, so as best as possible, you should try to avoid those kinds of incidences.”

Allison led the 2005 elections following a decade-long civil conflict that saw Sirleaf emerge as Africa’s first democratically elected female president.

Sen. Prince Y. Johnson of Nimba, who is also the standard bearer of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction, said because Sirleaf had already announced to the Liberian people that her choice for president is Joseph N. Boakai, the meeting was not necessary.

“There was no need for Sirleaf to invite Korkoya and the election magistrates to her private residence, which now leaves a vacuum for more suspicion that there will be interference by the executive in the elections,” he said.

He also noted that the meeting had no representative of the media present and suggests that the president “intends to interfere in these elections.”

Johnson appealed to Sirleaf to be more neutral for a leveled playing field.

“A lot of money has been invested by political parties for the October 10 elections,” he said.

Even though Johnson claims Sirleaf is interfering in the elections on behalf of her party, Wilmot Paye, the Unity Party chairman, has also described the meeting as a troubling sign for the electoral process and urged the elections body to maintain its neutrality.

But, Korkoya, the chairman of the elections body, has pushed back against characterizations of the meeting as ‘secret.’

“The commission, represented by me and some of my colleagues, took the 19 NEC magistrates to the president’s residence so that she could reemphasize her call on us to manage the affairs of the elections with transparency, accountability, and fairness,” Korkoya said.

Featured photo courtesy of Nathaniel Dayboy