Published: September 28, 2026
Nimba County – Sen. Samuel G. Kogar was handed a traditional rod and hailed as Nimba County’s “father of the land” at a ceremony Saturday. The ceremony was a public claim to the late Sen. Prince Y. Johnson’s political mantle, reopening the fight over who controls Liberia’s second-most populous county ahead of the 2029 elections.
By Blamo N. Toe
The Liberia International Religious Council gowned Kogar in traditional attire and presented him the rod. Hundreds of people attended and chanted “Nimba County 001,” “Nimba County father” and “our leader.” The elders said they were honoring Kogar for promoting unity and inclusive leadership and for putting Nimba first.
“This rod is what we’re offering to the father of the land,” an elder told the gathering as he presented it. He urged Kogar to use it with wisdom and understanding and in the interest of the county.
The honor went to a senator who was expelled from the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction, the party Johnson founded. Kogar has since attended a meeting of opposition parties convened by former President George M. Weah. The figure most often described by supporters as Johnson’s political son sits on the other side of that divide: Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung.
Kogar said in a statement on his official Facebook page that he was “deeply honored and grateful” for the recognition. He said it reminded him of a shared responsibility to work for unity, peace and development. “Thank you, L.I.R.C., for this honor. I am truly humbled and grateful,” he wrote.
Johnson died Nov. 28, 2024. His influence reached far beyond his Senate seat. The former rebel leader, who became an elected politician after the civil war, built a political machine that shaped how Nimba voted in successive presidential elections. Supporters and observers came to call him the county’s political “godfather.”
He used that influence in 2023 when he backed Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s presidential bid. Koung, a former Nimba representative and senator with close ties to Johnson, became Boakai’s running mate, and the ticket won. Johnson died about a year later, leaving a vacant Senate seat and no clear heir to the structure he had built.
Three politicians now dominate that contest. Koung holds the second-highest office in the country and carries his long association with Johnson. Kogar holds a countywide Senate mandate and has increasingly spoken out on national issues. Sen. Nya D. Twayen Jr. holds his own countywide mandate.
Kogar’s claim to Johnson’s legacy first drew public attention before Johnson’s burial. While the late senator’s body was in Nimba County, Kogar jumped over it.
None of the contenders has yet shown the one thing that made Johnson the county’s kingmaker: the ability to deliver Nimba’s vote. The 2029 presidential and legislative elections are expected to provide the first real test of the competing claims. Even then, a strong result may not reproduce the influence Johnson built over decades.
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