Coalition Wahalla Settled?

As the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) struggles to field a candidate for the pending Grand Cape Mount County senatorial by-elections, sources close to the CPP have hinted Focus Online that the stalemate has been resolved to carry the Unity Party candidate Mrs. Dabbah Varlipa, instead of Mr. Simeon Taylor of the Alternative National Congress.

According to our sources, the decision to choose a befitting candidate for late senator Edward Dagoseh’s vacant seat has now settled on Madam Varpila due to the CPP’s decision to consolidate its forces and wrestle state power from the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the 2020 and 2023 legislative and general elections.

The CDC has already withdrawn fielding a candidate for the Grand Cape Mount County (GCMC) by-elections, citing a need to recalibrate its priorities and garner lessons learned from the dismal performance of its candidate during the just-ended Montserrado County senatorial by-elections.

Howbeit, the withdrawal of the ruling party from the race seemed to have placed a monkey wrench in the ambition of the CPP to consolidate its forces to unseat the ruling establishment through the ballots.

Simeon Taylor, who lost to Dabbah Varpila during the recent Unity Party primaries, jumped ship to run on the ANC ticket for Grand Cape Mount – a decision that has sent shock waves across the opposition and elicited the ire of many CPP members, including renowned talk show host Henry Costa, who minced no words in voicing his dislike to the decision of the opposition fielding two candidates for one slot.

“They have put Mr. Alexander Cummings in a bad position. If Dabbah wins, are we going to say the Unity Party defeated the ANC?” Costa wondered during one of his recent podcasts.

How the cards are playing

GCMC stalwarts who know the political history of the county spoke with us, and they are very clear about what needs to done.

“Grand Cape Mount County has long been a Unity Party terrain, except for the 2017 elections when the CDC won narrowly. The current contested slot belongs to us. Simeon Taylor lost the primaries to Dabbah. Simeon knows that we are in collaboration with the ANC, yet he went there and convinced them to carry him on their ticket. That was pure wickedness,” says Musa Kiatamba of Tahn, Gola Konneh District.

According to Kiatamba, Mr. Taylor is not popular in the county because he has bad business and personal issues with the citizenry – from his controversial scrap business deals and his tendency to jump ship from one political party to another whenever he is not satisfied.

Another source also informed Focus, when Mr. Taylor learned that there is ongoing negotiations for the CPP to field a single candidate, he begged someone close to former Vice President Joseph Boakai to have him considered over Mrs. Varpila.

“But Simeon is forgetting that Dabbah has been party material over many years and she has paid her dues. The Joe Boakai that I know will never ever give consideration to such proposal,” our source stated.

It is also confirmed that the Liberty Party advised its candidate Mambu Sonii to dash his ambition for the covetous GCMC senatorial seat, so as not to create impression of division within the CPP.

It should be noteworthy to mention that Mr. Taylor lost his 2017 legislative quest in GCMC to incumbent Bob Sheriff as a result of heavy ‘cash violence’ influenced by a Liberian-based Sierra Leonean businessman popularly known as Idrissa.

According to highly placed boots on Cape Mount soil, Idrissa is now supporting another candidate in the race, Mr. Victor Watson. His decision to support Mr. Watson, it is believed, is to damage all chances for Mr. Simeon Taylor, and by extension, the CPP.

Madam Dabbah Varpila is seen by some critics as an outsider to GCMC body polity, though she is said to be the darling of the Collaborating Political Parties.

But the citizens think otherwise.

“Dabbah is a citizen of Grand Cape Mount County, from Damballah, with investments in the county. So what if she married a son of Bong County and has businesses there too? The Bible teaches us that a woman will leave her home and cleave to her husband. Whatever is the case, Dabbah never forgot her roots.”

Listening to Kiatamba, one would be more than convinced about the CPP alleged final choice.


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