His Excellency President Joseph N. Boakai has appointed Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah, Sr. as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Republic of Liberia. His appointment was made barely a day after Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi was named to the position, but was recalled within less than twenty-four hours.
The appointment of Cllr. Kruah, a seasoned legal luminary who has been practicing law since 1988, has however been greeted with mixed reactions, with critics terming him as confidant of the political godfather of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR), Senator Prince Johnson.
But amidst the public disagreements, several lawyers have described Cllr. Kruah as one of the enviable legal luminaries the nation can boast of, and that he is among a few lawyers who have courtroom experience in varied aspects of the legal profession, including criminal law, civil law, as well as labor law, with over three decades of courtroom maneuvering.
They said it was no mistake that the Chief Executive appointed him to the position. They claimed that politics is interest, and Cllr. Kruah was purposely dismissed by ex-President George Weah for attending the program marking the selection of the Standard Bearer of his party, Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung, as running mate to the Unity Party (UP) Standard Bearer while serving as Minister of Post and Telecommunication, even though he serves as Chairman of the MDR, which is an alliance party of the UP.
According to them, Cllr. Kruah’s experience in the law over the years makes him suitable and fit for President Boakai’s choice for a Minister of Justice, as he knows that when it comes to establishing a case the plaintiff must usually do so by preponderance of evidence, contrary to what was allegedly being done by some Attorney Generals and Solicitor Generals in past administrations.
The lawyers praised President Boakai’s decision and choice of a justice minister, and said Cllr. Kruah’s confirmation only awaits the Senate hearing, because even lawmakers in the Liberian Senate are testaments of Cllr. Kruah’s workings over the years.
It can be recalled that Cllr. Kruah was robust in his petition with criminal matters in court, which will be one of his primary focuses in the fight against corruption in the Boakai administration. One of his clients, who prefers not to be named, explained that during a trial Cllr. Kruah presented the evidence to the judge through witnesses who testified what they know or saw, but what mostly amazed them was his closing argument and his legal memorandum before the judge, and finally the defendant was found guilty beyond all reasonable doubt.
Also, during a trial in a case involving the Liberia Marketing Association (LMA) at the Civil Law Court, which was presided over by now Associate Justice D. Yusif Kaba, Cllr. Kruah argued that the Liberia Civil Procedure Law requires that the burden of proof lies on the plaintiff or the person filing the lawsuit, and further argued that the plaintiff should prove that the allegation is true.
With the nomination of Cllr. Kruah to the Ministry of Justice, observers are saying that President Boakai is becoming practical about his fight against corruption and other vices in the Liberian society, and that Cllr. Kruah may perform excellent in that capacity if given the chance to perform without interference.