MONROVIA – As Liberia last Tuesday’s elections’ ballot counting continues, United States Chargé d’Affaires at its embassy near Monrovia, Liberia, Catherine Rodriguez, has applauded staff of the National Elections Commission (NEC) assigned at the Commission’s Montserrado Tally Center.
Rodriquez, who on Thursday vested the NEC Tally Center, located in Liberia’s largest city, Paynesville, thanked the staff for their service to Liberians.
“Thank you for your service to the Liberian people,” Rodriquez told the NEC staffers.
The U.S. official, whose presence at the Tally Center was an observatory mission, led by NEC officials, was taken on a guided tour of the facility, comprising multiple tally stations.
Officials of the electoral body at the Tally Center then explained the tallying process to the U.S. diplomat.
“This is Liberian democracy at work,” a brief statement released today by the U.S. Embassy in relation to Rodriquez’s yesterday’s visit to the NEC Tally Center, noted.
In the statement, the U.S. Embassy reiterated its previous call for all Liberians, political parties, and political aspirants to await official results calmly, patiently, and peacefully.
Meanwhile, prior to her departure from the NEC Montserrado Tally Center, Chargé d’Affaires Rodriquez posed for photography with enthusiastic staff of the NEC assigned at the center.
Charge d’Affaires Rodriquez should not be in a haste congratulating NEC. Most Liberians are very corrupt and inefficient. She should concentrate on what is happening at the headquarters of the NEC, where it is taking a million years to release accurate results in an election where less than two and half million people voted, and even after all the tally sheets from virtually all electoral places have been delivered to the NEC. Cathetinre should be wondering why this is so, and why only less than 10% of the results have so far been announced. She should therefore urge the NEC to speed up the release of results already approved by NEC agents at the voting precincts and places and sent to NEC’s data section. Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy must enquire from George George Weah why he is ferrying ex-rebels from Grand Gedeh to Monrovia, including one Kai Falley, a notorious killer, at a time when there are strong rumours that he wants to steal the elections and declare a state of emergency to cover it up after he has lost the elections in the first round.