MONROVIA – The leadership of the St. Paul Bridge Community has taken issues with the Governor of the Borough of New Kru Town over the issuance of a questionable guidelines which charges exorbitant fees for those contesting various positions in separate elections in the 28 communities in the Borough.
By Obediah Johnson
The guidelines, a copy which is in the possession of FrontPage Africa, set aside the amount of L$10,000 a registration fees for the position of Chairperson, L$8,000 for Co-chair, L$6000 for secretary general, L$5,00 for financial secretary, L$4,500 for treasurer, L$3,000 for chaplain, L$4,000 each for women and youth chair.
But the leadership of the St. Paul Bridge Community claimed that the huge amounts being charged is intended to deprive many underprivileged and struggling citizens from participating in the process.
In a statement issued under the signature of the community’s outgoing Chairman, Philipboye Merchant, on Thursday, April 2, the community pointed out that the decision taken by Governor Teah to appoint an election commission to conduct elections in the community, without the knowledge of the acting leadership is unacceptable.
“The office of St Paul Bridge Community Central Leadership rejects the decision of election commission appointments made by Few Sub-Community Chairpersons in consultation with Governor Teah’s office. We consider the decision made by few Sub-Community Chairpersons in consultation with Governor Robert Teah of the Borough of Kru Town, to appoint election commissioners within St. Paul Bridge Community to conduct our elections as unwarranted and unconstitutional.
The Central Leadership wishes to clearly state that it does not agree with this decision,” the statement noted.
The leadership maintained that it has the constitutional backing, in accordance with Article 12, Section (b) of the community’s constitution to appoint Elections Commissioners in consultation with the Council of Elders.
It added in keeping with its constitutional responsibility and function to ensure order, transparency, and the democratic participation of residents of the community, it has rejected the electoral commission recognized by the Governor to conduct the elections.
The leadership, however, established a new elections commission and named its members as Arthur Gray (Chairperson), James Pallie Doe (Co-chair), and Obediah Guayeah (Secretary General).
Others are : Elijah Gartor (Member) and Harrison Baines (Member). The leadership also replaced all Commissioners previously appointed by the chairpersons of the various sub-communities in St. Paul Bridge.
Merchant mandated the new Commissioners to oversee and conduct the general elections for the Central Leadership and all Sub-Communities within the St. Paul Bridge Community, beginning April 3, 2026, and continuing through the end of April 2026.
Meanwhile, the Central Leadership of St Paul Bridge Community, in line with Article 22 of the community constitution, has announced the suspension of Stephen Boe as General Secretary from the central Leadership for time indefinite.
The leadership disclosed that the suspension of Mr. Boe is due to gross insubordination, subversion of leadership and insurgency against the community authority.
Article 22 section A&B of the constitution of St. Paul Bridge states that: “ any act of subversion, grudge insubordination and insurgency against community authority are unconstitutional, and warrant expulsion, suspension or warning if deem necessary by the authority of the Central Leadership of St. Paul Bridge Community.”
The leadership pointed out that the Local Government Act was enacted to ensure that governance at the local level is conducted in a structured, transparent, and accountable manner.
It maintained that the act clearly outlines the procedures, authorities, and mechanisms through which community leadership is determined and as such, any deviation from these provisions is not a mere administrative oversight—but it is a direct violation of the law.
“Governor Teah’s attempt to unilaterally organize these elections raises serious legal and ethical concerns. Under what authority are these elections being conducted? Who sanctioned this process? Why are established legal channels being ignored? These are questions that demand immediate and clear answers. Even more troubling is the apparent financial motive behind this process. From our investigation conducted and mathematics skills implored, we have realized that Governor Teah will be pocketing more than 13 million Liberian dollars from the exorbitant registration fees being charged those who are aspiring for various leadership positions in our communities.”
The leadership stated that at a time when citizens are grappling with economic hardship, unemployment and rising living costs, it is both insensitive and unacceptable to impose such a financial burden under the guise of a questionable electoral process.
The leadership observed that Governor Teah is attempting to use this process to enrich himself and his family members to the detriment of struggling mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who have been given the full support from residents in the various communities to lead them.
“Let us be clear: governance is not a business venture, and public office is not an opportunity for personal enrichment. Any attempt to extract such a significant sum of money from already struggling communities, without transparency, accountability, or legal backing, will be met with stiff resistance.”
The leadership, however, called on residents of the borough to consider the broader implications of this action from Governor Teah. It emphasized that if such practices are allowed to continue unchecked, they set a dangerous precedent—not just for the Central Leadership of St Paul Bridge, but for all communities across St. Paul Bridge Community.
It added that this will open door to arbitrary decision-making, abuse of power, and the erosion of public trust in local leadership.
“We, therefore call on Governor Teah to immediately halt all plans related to these unauthorized elections. We urge him to respect the provisions of the Local Government Act and to operate within the boundaries of the law. Leadership must be exercised with integrity, accountability, and respect for due process.
Furthermore, we call on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and all relevant national authorities to intervene promptly. This matter requires urgent investigation to determine the legality of these actions and to ensure that the rights of the people of St Paul Bridge Community are protected.”
The leadership of St. Paul Bridge urged all those aspiring for positions in their various communities not to honor any guidelines or registration process from the Governor’s office.
For his part, Governor Teah claimed that many of those in leadership have overstayed in power and as such, the outgoing leaders and his administration, have resolved to hold fresh elections.
He disclosed that the chairmen of the 28 communities informed his office that they have already setup their separate election commissions to carry out the process.
As a result of this, he disclosed that a guideline for the elections was set up for the conduct of elections simultaneously in the various communities.
Governor Teah denied appointing various election commissioners to conduct elections in the various communities.
“We had series of meetings and all the community chairpersons agreed and they signed a resolution that they have agreed to go to elections. The committee did the guidelines and sent it to the Borough Council, It reached to my office and we called the community chairpersons and they (Chairpersons) committed the names of their elections commissions to conduct free and fair elections in the various communities. It is very unfortunate to see some of those who signed this resolution and feel that St. Paul Bridge should be country by itself to be having issues,” he noted.
Governor Teah stated that his office would play a key role to supervise the elections in the communities. He disclosed that about 28 Monitors have already been selected by his office to carry on the exercise.
He said his office is also planning to provide extra funds to the various communities for the conduct of the elections.
He said out of the 28 communities in the Borough, only two communities, including Whea Town and Central St. Paul Bridge, are yet to submit the names of those who would spearhead the conduct of their elections.
Governor Teah pointed out that those having issues with the process should engage his office instead of planning to disrupt the process. “The statement from Philipboye Merchant that I selected election commissions is untrue and unfair to the people of the Borough of New Kru Town and I want to say to him that he’s fighting a losing battle. The L$10,000 for
registration, Philipboye was the Chair of the various communities. He derived at that fee at the time,” he noted.
He mentioned that fees being collected for the registration of those vying for various positions, would be managed by the election commissions of the communities, and not the office of the Governor.
Governor Teah emphasized that many of those serving in positions were handpicked and as such, the election processes would be carried out to elect new leaders to serve the people.
He blamed the accusations levied against him to his decision taken to change the management team at the St. Paul Bridge Town Hall
Bartholomew Wreh, Chair of the Independent Elections Commission of the Colonel West community denied claims that members of the commission were appointed by Governor Teah.
He clarified that funds being generated from the registration of would-be candidates would be used to procure stationery and other essential materials for the conduct of the elections.
