Stakeholders and a cross section of section chiefs, at the newly constituted Gallines Chiefdom in the Pujehun District, have written a letter of complaint to President Bio, accusing Hon. Dickson Rogers of Constituency 100 and the Speaker of Peri Chiefdom, Alhaji Siddi A.T. Rogers, of directly interfering into the process leading to the election of a new chief.
The letter, dated 9th January, 2019, accused both men of inciting violence and using intimidation against their political opponents.
Section Chiefs of Mewa and Gendema, together with a cross section of other chiefs, have called on the President to checkmate this state of affairs in their chiefdom; and see the reason to appeal to Hon Dickson Rogers and the Speaker of Peri to hands off the process.
The authorities thanked the District Office, so far, for their steadfastness and bravery in executing the process amidst the huge political interference, violence and intimidation that has clouded the process.
Hon Dickson Rogers is Member of Parliament for Constituency 100, comprising of both Gallines and Peri Chiefdoms, which used to be a single Chiefdom before the de-amalgamation process.
Even when Gallines Chiefdom has been separated from Gallines Peri, Hon. Dickson, who doubles as Chief Whip for the House of Parliament, stands accused of supporting Siaka Massaquoi, one of the contestants for the race, branding him as President Bio’s candidate.
The stakeholders have accused Hon. Rogers of holding secret meetings and inciting violence against people who are supporting the popular female candidate, Madam Jon Jon Wokie of the same Massaquoi ruling clan.
Regent Chief for the area, Pa David Sheku Kawah, expressed his frustration at this state of affairs, noting that the APC and SLPP politics have taken centre stage at the elections process.
He noted that all the contestants are from the same ruling house, and that they should come together for peace. The Regent Chief called on government to speedily intervene and solve the situation, which he described as almost getting out of hand.
Responding, Hon Dickson Rogers told this medium that he is a politician representing the interest of the SLPP at the constituency and would support anybody that is SLPP.
He continued that Madam Jon Jon Wokie is APC and that the former Vice President, Victor Foh, had long declared her as the APC candidate and that it behoves him as the MP for the area to also support and protect the interest of his party.
Hon Rogers has described the contest as purely political, with the SLPP and the APC taking sides with the two candidates who he described as blood relatives.
He denied of having participated in any political meeting in any village, neither has he branded any candidate as Bio’s candidate.
“As MP of the area I am a traditional authority (TA), who has voting rights in all the chiefdoms under my constituency,” he noted.
The list of Chiefdom councillors, who will have to vote in the Paramount Chieftaincy elections for the chiefdom, was reviewed on the 15th December, 2018 amidst violence and there are conflicting correspondences from the District Office in Pujehun of another attempt to review the list, a decision which the Madam Jon Jon Wokie camp has described as a ploy to undermine the process and her subsequent victory.
Officials of the District Office in Pujehun are also being accused of manipulating the process in favour of the SLPP perceived candidate, Siaka Massaquoi.
Galliness Chiefdom stands deprived of basic social amenities like schools, hospitals and other basic facilities even when the area is endowed with rich iron ore deposits as already explored by China Kingho Mining company.