adminMonrovia – Campaigning is under way for Senate elections in Liberia, another sign that Ebola is loosening its deadly grip on the West African country even as it hits the capital of neighbouring Sierra Leone with increasing force.
Senate candidate Robert Sirleaf, son of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, expressed delight at how many supporters turned out at a recent campaign rally.
“They told me that there would only be 50 people but I see four or five thousand people,” he said. “That gives me spirit.”
Police last week said gatherings were still banned, including on beaches where people tend to flock on a holiday this Saturday, but political rallies were exempt from the ban.
The Senate election was supposed to have been held on October 16, but that was when hundreds of new Ebola cases were being reported each week. The vote was delayed for two months.
The rate of infection nationally is now fewer than 100 cases weekly, and the green light remains on for the 16 December vote.
Polling places are supposed to provide buckets of chlorinated water for hand-washing and a clean pen for each voter to fill out his or her ballot.
Some Liberians are concerned that it might still be too soon for electioneering. — AP
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