GOMPA, Nimba – Representative Jeremiah Koung of Nimba’s first electoral district says calls by Bein-Garr elders for a ‘ceasefire meeting’ between him and Lawrence Sua, a contender for Koung’s seat, is “unfair.”

The proposed meeting comes in the wake of recent tensions between camps of Koung and Sua over allegations that Sua traveled to neighboring Guinea to bewitch his competitor in an attempt to gain an upper hand in the elections.

Koung said he acknowledges the mitigating role the elders have had to play in the matter but stressed, “It wasn’t fair for the elders to call on my office or my people to cease fire when we have fired nothing. I think it was not fair to do that.”

Preferably, the Nimba lawmaker would have instead appreciated a call to both parties to ascertain the matter and find an amicable solution in settling the issue at hand. Koung said he has asked his supporters not to speak on the matter any further.

The alleged intention to bewitch Koung was first revealed by a close associate of Sua, Nathan Queegbay, who claimed that he accompanied Sua on the trip to Guinea, along with campaign official Maxim Blasim, to carry out the bewitching. Queegbay claims that Sua did not tell him about the nature of the trip until arrival.

“Mr. Sua told me to swear that I will not tell anybody what we came to do in Guinea and I [swore] that I was not going to tell anybody,” Queegbay said.

Queegbay said Sua had specifically requested that a traditional doctor, sometimes known as a medicine man, freeze Koung’s plans for reelection and to make the lawmaker blind until the electoral process ended.

Adding that he was raised in a Christian household with a Baptist preacher for a father in Tappita, Nimba, Queegbay said he was speaking out because he condemned the act and did not give it any attention.

Koung, however, has viewed Queegbay’s statements with skepticism. He asked the elders to call on Queegbay to prove the veracity of his comments.

“Sometimes, there are people who come to find favor from other people, so they come to damage other people,” Koung added. “So, it may be that guy who spoke on the radio… he could be lying because he wants a favor from us. On the other hand, he could be saying something true that is bothering him. The elders calling him to ask about his statement, whether it is true or false, is good.”

Queegbay’s claims, despite the attention they have garnered, are being met with suspicion by several individuals who say they spotted Sua in Monrovia on the same date he was alleged to have been in Guinea.

Several supporters of Sua confirmed that he was involved in a series of activities in Monrovia on Sunday, April 23. Other sources close to Sua say he was in Monrovia on that very Sunday and was part of a retreat planned by GN Bank, which he worked for in Ganta.

A Bush Chicken reporter also encountered Sua in Congo Town on the same date.

Among the five aspirants intending to unseat the incumbent Koung in the upcoming October 10 elections, Sua seems to be the biggest threat.

During elections in Liberia, it is not uncommon for power seekers to seek assistance from traditional doctors in order to boost their chances of winning elections. These practices sometimes border on the criminal as traditional doctors may request human body parts to conduct the necessary rituals.

Featured photo courtesy of LPRC