The Supreme Court of Liberia has ruled in favor of the National Campaign Management Team of Julius Kanubahin a case seeking to overturn a controversial mandate by Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe.
In a verdict delivered on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Justice Nagbe was in error to have ordered the lifting of a stay order placed on all activities of the former administration of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), including a so–called induction of officers–elect.
The Supreme Court found that, in mandating the reversal of the Stay Order, Justice Nagbe failed to issue an alternative writ, thereby denying the right of the KanubahCampaign Team to due process.
“It was, therefore, an error on the part of the Justice in Chambers to have ordered the trial judge to set aside his stay order imposed without issuing the alternative writ and determining the information filed before him. We, therefore, answer the first issue that our colleague inadvertently erred,” declares the Supreme Court in a five-page ruling. It added, “The order of the Justice in Chambers to the judge in the court below to set aside the stay order on the induction of the officers-elect of the Press Union of Liberia, absent the issuance of the alternative writ, is hereby reversed.”
The stay order was imposed on December 15, 2022 by the Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Bong County, J. Boimah Kontoe, pending a legal determination into a Petition for Declaratory Judgment filed by the Kanubah Campaign Team on November 18, 2022.
In its ruling read by Associate Justice Yussif D. Kabba, the Supreme Court ordered the Clerk of Court to send a mandate to the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, ordering the presiding Judge to resume jurisdiction and proceed in keeping with law regarding Team Kanubah’s Petition for Declaratory Judgment.
The verdict by the Supreme Court is a major victory for the Kanubah Campaign Team as it effectively reinforces and further strengthens the judge’s stay order, restraining Charles Coffey, Daniel Nyakonah, Musa Kenneh, Akoi Baysah and their collaborators from conducting the affairs of the PUL.
Tuesday’s verdict was signed by Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, Associate Justice Jamesetta Howard Wolokolie, and Associate Justice Yussif D. Kaba. The two other Associate Justices, Joseph N. Nagbe and Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay, Sr., did not sign because they recused themselves from the case during a hearing on May 2, 2023 to avoid conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the verdict, the National Campaign Management Team of Julius Kanubah and Beatrice Sieh for the leadership of the PUL will officially hold a major press conference on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, in Monrovia.
Team Kanubah has thanked its supporters and members of the PUL, as well as sympathizers, for the overwhelming support and patience as it seeks justice and accountability amid acts of fraud by the former PUL administration of Charles Coffey, Daniel Nyakonah, Musa Kenneh, Akoi Baysah and their collaborators.
