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By: Elbie Sebleh & Jackson C. Clay, Jr.
Claim: Martin K.N. Kollie said on Facebook, “This is the largest centre in Grand Gedeh County, Zwedru Multilateral High School. It is still poor in terms of turnout up to now.”
Verdict: Misleading! The school shown in the photo shared by Marin Kollie is Diana E. Davies, located in District #17, Montserrado County.
Finding
The head of research and rapid response of the Unity Party (UP), Martin K. N. Kollie, made a Facebook post suggesting poor turnout at one of the election precincts, Zwedru Multilateral High School in Grand Gedeh County.
The post had over 190 comments, 40 shares, and 300 emojis.
Grand Gedeh County is one of the fifteen counties of Liberia, and it is found in the southeastern part of Liberia, a place believed to be the stronghold of incumbent president George Weah. If this is anything to go by, a poor turnout in that county would mean the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) would drop in numbers.
Our findings from a Facebook search revealed other posts suggesting different locations with the same pictures as seen here.
However, we came across other posts that counter Mr Kollie’s post, which suggested that the place is not in Grand Geded or Nimba counties but in Montserrado County, as seen here and here.
To authenticate the actual location, our researcher contacted a resident in Brewerville, Jessey Destiny Sayon, who lives near the school. The resident, Sayon, confirmed that the school is Diana E. Davies, located in Brewerville, District #17, Montserrado County.
Furthermore, our search through the official Facebook page of the school showed the actual name and location are not Zwedru Multilateral High School, Grand Gedeh County, but Diana E. Davies, Brewervill City, Montserrado County. Furthermore, zooming in on the picture shared by Mr Kollie shows the initial “D. E. D.” for Diana E. Davies instead of “Z. M. H. S.” for Zwedru Multilateral High School.
Also, our fact-checker, Elbie Sebleh, confirmed t a huge voter turnout at the Diana E. Davies High School. At Zwedru Multilateral High School in Grand Gedeh County, our contact, Justice Clarke, said that the voting process was a bit slow and had a semi-low turnout from the start but became huge as time passed.
