Liberia: Sinoe NEC Magistrate Reportedly Missing After Traveling Toward Ivory Coast - FrontPageAfrica

SINOE, Liberia – A Senior Elections Magistrate of the National Elections Commission(NEC) assigned in Sinoe County, Solomon Jaryenneh, has reportedly gone missing under unclear circumstances after attending a series of NEC workshops in Maryland and Nimba Counties before allegedly traveling toward San Pedro, Ivory Coast.

By Peter P. Toe Jr. Peter.toe@frontpageafricaonline.com

The matter surfaced publicly following a formal communication from Madam Hawa Jarynneh, identified as the wife of the missing magistrate, addressed to Acting NEC Chairperson Jonathan K. Weedor.

In the April 21  letter, Madam Jarynneh stated that her husband attended two NEC-organized workshops, first in Harper, Maryland County and later in Ganta, Nimba County.

According to the communication, after the workshops, the magistrate reportedly decided to seek treatment in Harper due to health concerns.

She further claimed that on April 2, he contacted her and informed her that he was traveling around the Ivorian-Liberian border in Maryland County in search of traditional treatment.

“Regrettably, since then, I have not heard from my husband. All of his numbers are off,” the letter stated, while appealing to the NEC for intervention into what she described as a “serious and urgent matter.”

Speaking to FrontPage Africa via WhatsApp Thursday, May 7, Madam Jarynneh said the disappearance remains deeply troubling because, according to her, her husband left solely for official NEC assignments.

“My husband never had any issue. He said he was going to Maryland County for workshop and since then he hasn’t been found. We have reported the case to NEC head office,” she explained.

According to her, information later provided by Thomas Wilson, Deputy Magistrate of the Maryland County NEC office, indicated that the missing magistrate may have traveled to San Pedro, Ivory Coast.

“It was his colleague Wilson who told me that my husband was in San Petro in Ivory Coast,” she said.

Madam Jarynneh further disclosed that efforts to trace his movements through border authorities on both the Liberian and Ivorian sides produced conflicting accounts.

“We went to the border on Liberian side and they said he crossed. But when we crossed to Ivory Coast side the securities checked the records and they didn’t see his name so they said he didn’t cross,” she narrated.

She added that although the magistrate’s phone occasionally rings, he has not answered repeated calls from family members.

“We call him sometimes the phone can be on and off, but no answer. I am currently in San Petro, Ivory Coast. I haven’t seen my husband. It has never happened before. What getting me afraid, sometimes the phone will ring no answer.”

Madam Jarynneh also dismissed any suggestion that her husband may have left due to personal disputes or misunderstandings.

“My husband wasn’t in any confusion, no issue of going Ivory Coast,” she stressed.

However, when contacted by phone Thursday, Thomas Wilson, Deputy Magistrate of Maryland County NEC Office, confirmed that the missing magistrate attended the NEC Civic and Voter Education Cells workshop hosted in Harper before proceeding to another NEC training in Ganta, Nimba County.

“Maryland County hosted the Civic and Voter Education Cells section almost a month ago. And this magistrate asked that I host him, so I hosted him,” Mr. Wilson explained.

According to Mr. Wilson, the training in Harper lasted for two days before participants were divided into batches for another workshop in Ganta.

“The section went for two days. Closed to the end of the training, there was another training that erupted and should have been held in Ganta, Nimba County. But this training, they batched us into two different groups and he was part of the first batch,” he said.

Mr. Wilson further disclosed that before leaving, the magistrate informed him that he had personal matters to attend to in Ivory Coast.

“So he left, but he said he had some personal issues to attend to in Ivory Coast,” Mr. Wilson stated.

He explained that after completing the first phase of training in Ganta, the magistrate returned briefly to Harper and spent a night at his residence before continuing his journey.

“When he got to Harper he called me and he got the key from the security and he passed a night at my house and the next day he told me he was going to Ivory Coast, Sanpetro, so he left,” Mr. Wilson recounted.

Mr. Wilson said he remained in communication with the magistrate for a short period after his reported arrival in Ivory Coast.

“So he went to Ivory Coast according to him. He called me while there and he promised to call me back after, but he didn’t. When I called him the next day he said he was on a motorbike and said he was to call me back and since then he hadn’t called me.”

The Maryland County NEC Deputy Magistrate said family members have been consistently reaching out to him as they continue searching for answers.

“The family have been calling me and we have been following up but can’t get him. I gave the family the information long time. I told them to go to the Police and the commission,” Mr. Wilson added.

As of Thursday, neither the NEC nor Liberian security authorities had publicly commented on the reported disappearance, while the circumstances surrounding the magistrate’s whereabouts remain unclear.