Varney Sherman‘Throws’ Stone
-LUP Partisans Plan Political Revenge
By: Our Correspondence From Bong
Forum
Monrovia, Liberia
Distributed by
The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
Following last weekend’s convention, hundreds of partisans of LUP hailing from Lofa, Bong and Nimba Counties openly accused LAP’s Standard- bearer, Cllr. Varney Sherman of allegedly interfering with the exercise to elect a standard-bearer of LUP.
They accused LAP Standard-bearer of reportedly infusing huge sums of United
States dollars into the camp of Dr. Shelton Beedoe through the party’s
Secretary General Cletus Sieh, who is said to have been used as a “point
man.”
They told The FORUM in Gbarnga that Mr. Sieh allegedly recruited some LAP
partisans from Monrovia and the Southeast under the guise of LUP partisans/delegates
to participate in the exercise.
According to them, these individuals were very strange to most of the executives of LUP, including Chairman Isaac Mannah who is also said to have been “bought” by Varney Sherman.
For his part, Dr. Walter Gwenigale, told The FORUM in Gbarnga that the entire party leadership headed by Chairman Isaac Mannah sold the party to Dr. Beedoe whom he said is enjoying dual citizenship.
Dr. Gwenigale said he will file an official complaint to the National Elections Commission (NEC) against the outcome of LUP’s Convention.
Though The FORUM did not see the LAP Standard-bearer at the convention, he was present in Gbarnga on the eve and day of the exercise.
The LUP partisans, mainly supporters of the defeated candidate, Dr. Walter
T. Gwanigale, have vowed to vigorously campaign against LAP and its standard-bearer
in Bong, Lofa, Nimba and Margibi Counties as a “revenge.”
When contacted, LAP National Chairman Sheba Brown however, denied the allegations.
Mrs. Brown clarifying further said that Cllr. Sherman’s presence at
the LUP Convention was at the invitation of the party’s leadership.
Asked as to why only Cllr. Sherman was invited and not other political party
leaders, Mrs. Brown referred The FORUM to the leadership of LUP.
For his part, LUP’s Secretary-General Cletus Sieh, who is allegedly at the center of the manipulations, also denied the allegations in an interview with reporters in Gbarnga.
Commenting on the convention, the National Youth Wing Chairman of LUP, George Cooper, told The FORUM that the entire exercise was not only marked by fraud but also a mockery of democracy.
Additional investigation done by The FORUM following the convention suggests that Cllr. Varney Sherman’s involvement at the LUP Convention is to likely carry Dr. Beedoe as his running mate in October.
In the race last weekend in Gbarnga for the position of standard-bearer for LUP, Dr. Walter T. Gwanigale narrowly went down to Dr. Beedoe 46-48 votes.
