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Claim: A former media personality, Jefferson Massah, posted on Facebook the death of two persons in a post-election violence due to election results anxiety in Lofa.
Verdict: True! The General Police Commander of Lofa County, Clement Barlatt, has confirmed to DUBAWA the deaths of two Konia, Zorzor District, Lofa County residents due to disagreement over election results.
Full Text
After the announcement of preliminary results of the 2023 General Presidential and Representatives Elections in Liberia on Oct. 10, supporters of both incumbent President George Weah and the leader of the opposition, Joseph Boakai, have been upbeat in anticipation of a one-round victory in the elections.
On Saturday, Oct.14, 2023, a former media personality and staff of Internews Liberia, Jefferson Massah, posted on his Facebook page alarming news of the death of two persons in Lofa due to results announcement anxiety between supporters of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Unity Party (UP).
“NEC Liberia speed release of official results. Anxiety seems high; two persons reported dead in Lofa over result arguments.”
The post created fear among some Liberians, especially on WhatsApp platforms, questioning the claim. This led DUBAWA to fact-check the claim.
Verification
In fact-checking this claim, DUBAWA contacted the General Police Commander of Lofa County, Clement Barlatt, via telephone, and he confirmed that the incident occurred on Saturday in Konia at about 0645hrs.
The Police Commander stated that a 15-man jury set up to examine the bodies reported that 30-year-old John Kolubah and 37-year-old Kesselee had died due to violence that ensued after an argument about the election results.
“On Saturday, the police got a call that John Kolubah, a resident of Konia, was seen lying unconscious in front of his house. We were informed that John Kolubah and Oldman Kesselee got into a political argument about who would win the elections. During the argument, Kolubah told Oldman Kesselee that the Unity Party would win the elections, which made Oldman Kesselee angry. He jumped on Kolubah with a fight, took a piece of plant and hit it on John’s head, which led him to fall and go unconscious.”
The report also mentioned that Oldman Kesselee was mobbed by an angry crowd when he tried to escape the scene after killing his colleague.
“When Oldman Kesselee noticed that John Kolubah was unconscious after hitting him, he tried to escape by heading to the police station but was grabbed by an angry mob, which also burnt down his four-bedroom house.”
In further verification, DUBAWA found out that the incident had been reported on some media platforms, as can be seen here.
Conclusion
Our verification proves that post-election violence in Konia, Lofa County, led to two persons’ deaths.
