The Assigned 4th Judicial Circuit Court Judge of Maryland County, His Honor Wesseh Alphnsus Wesseh, has issued a writ on the Liberian Government to immediately release a Ghanaian expert of Information Communication Technology (ICT) who was arrested by police in the southeast for his alleged ‘Alleged Election Meddling’
The Judge in his write issued and a copy in the possession of the GNN-Liberia ordered the Liberian Government to produce the living body of Sumson Essien, Jr., co-founder and CEO of Swift Ghana on Friday but reportedly failed to do so as mandated by the writ issued, this act on the part of the government is contemptuous and may warrant legal action against the Ministry of Justice and the Liberia National Police on next week Monday, November 13, 2023.
Early this week, it was reported in a local daily; FrontPageAfrica, that a Ghanaian Information Communication Technology (ICT) expert who was brought into the country by the opposition Unity Party to train poll watchers and data entry clerks was arrested in River Gee County.
The opposition Unity Party (UP), led by former Vice President Joseph Boakai, is set to face off with the incumbent President George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) after both candidates went neck and neck in the October 10 election but failed to secure the constitutionally required 50 percent plus one vote to be declared the winner. The runoff election is scheduled for November 14, 2023.
The paper also reported that it has gathered that the UP’s IT expert, Sumson Essien, Jr., co-founder and CEO of Swift Ghana, was traveling with three others from Maryland County, where he had gone to train poll watchers and supervisors in the Southeastern region.
According to police sources in River Gee, the Ghanaian expert is suspected of meddling in the October 10 elections and is alleged to be planning to continue the same interference in the November 14 runoff.
When Mo Ali, the spokesman for the Unity Party campaign team contacted he reportedly confirmed the arrest. He stated that although Essien was arrested in River Gee on Wednesday, he was later transported to Harper, Maryland, and handed over to immigration authorities for protective custody. This action, according to Ali, was taken with the intervention of Senators Commany Wesseh and Boycharles Sogbie, among others.
Ali said Essien’s arrested was planned and triggered by spreading of falsehood that he had tampered with the National Elections Commission’s manual system to favor the Unity Party.
“There was a malicious propaganda spread by the CDC claiming that the Unity Party had brought in a Ghanaian hacker to manipulate the NEC manual system to change results in our favor from the Southeast… They had him arrested,” Ali said.
He said Essien was very instrumental, through his training, in preventing the rigging of election in Montserrado County was, therefore, asked to provide similar training in the Southeast.
Ali informed FrontPageAfrica that a photo of their IT expert was provided to the police in the Southeastern region, labeling him as a wanted person.
He also alleged that about 500 android phones, which supervisors are supposed to use for communication with poll watchers at various polling centers, were confiscated by the police in River Gee County. Additionally, Ali said that samples of the ballot papers used by the Unity Party campaign team, traveling with the Ghanaian expert, were also seized by the police.
The Unity Party spokesman further alleged that their partisans engaged in campaign and civic voter education in the Southeast are being hindered and intimidated by officials in the region.
Below are copies of the legal documents
