The pro-democracy group, Independent Civil Society Union of Liberia (ICSUL), has termed as unacceptable and a total contradiction of President Joseph NyumaBoakai’s anti-corruption drive the nomination of Cllr. Bobby Livingston as Deputy Information Minister for Public Affairs.
President Boakai recently nominated Cllr. Livingstone, who is currently the Director of Financial Crimes at the Ministry of Justice, and one of the state lawyers trading accusations of corruption in the US$150,000 saga surrounding the controversial trial of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott and three of her family members for murder.
In a release issued Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Monrovia, the Independent Civil Society Union contends that, amidst the very serious corruption controversy involving the name of Cllrs. Bobby Livingstone, Adulphus Karnuah, Lafayette Gould (Assistant Minister for Litigation-designate), and Montserrado County Attorney Swahilu Sesay, the best President Boakai’s government would do is to ensure that these Justice Ministry officials appear before the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to adequately account for the hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money they received under unexplained circumstances.
The group argued that to nominate Cllr. Livingstone and any of his colleagues from the Justice Ministry without first ensuring an accountability process to ascertain what happened to the huge sums of money dished out among them during the trial is to approve and acquiesce in the apparent corruption that took place among people who are entrusted with the authority of state prosecution.
“ICSUL notes that what is even more troubling is the fact that the current embarrassing fight over the usage of the controversial US$150,000 was preceded by the fining and suspension of former Solicitor General, Nyanti Tuan,by Criminal Court ‘A’ Judge, Roosevelt Willie, after being found liable for breaking jury rules or attempted jury tempering,” ICSUL said in a press release.
The civil society group further asserts that it remains unclear as to whether part of the US$150,000 being fought over by Cllr. Bobby Livingstone and others was used to interfere with the Gloria Musu Scott case through a possible jury tempering and other unorthodox means, as has repeatedly been expressed by the family of the defendants since the conclusion of the case at the lower court.
“We find it very unacceptable and difficult to believe that Joe Boakai, who campaigned on the platform of anti-corruption and the pledge to fight against bad governance, would be appointing people to elevated and critical positions in his government in the face of very serious corruption implications that are yet to be investigated and settled,” the civil society group disclosed.
The CSO group says serious attention must be drawn to the “disgraceful” fight over staggering sums of public money by Justice Ministry officials (prosecutors), who handled Cllr. Scott’s trial, amidst legitimate fears that the jurors were tempered with.
ICSUL said it is joining many other Liberians who still believe that the jurors in the Gloria Musu Scott case were possibly tempered with, after Solicitor General, NyantiTuan, was found liable for going to the Temple of Justice and visiting the jurors’ quarters during odd hours, for which he was fined US$250 (two hundred fifty United States dollars) and suspended from the trial.
The CSO group described as shameful and very embarrassing the nomination of Cllr. Livingstone and any of the state prosecutors who are entangled in this apparent corruption debacle without first seeking to investigate and take appropriate actions in the matter.
The group further argued that Cllr. Livingstone and other prosecutors who believed in and defended an indictment that has been publicly disowned by the Chief Investigator, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Monroe Dennis, who presided over the entire police investigation involving Justice Scott and others should not be nominated to bigger positions of trust without first being made to account and explain their involvement in the shady things being alleged by themselves in their accusations against each other.
The Independent Civil Society Union further asserted that the fact that ACP Dennis, in his public outburst, stated that the investigation findings didn’t suggest the crimes mentioned in the indictment, but heavy hands interfered and insisted that Cllr. Scott and her family be charged as such, and also, the fact that these prosecutors are now fighting over money they got from the trial and throwing corruption accusations at each other are enough reasons why none of them should be nominated in government until the matter is addressed and settled.
The civil society group maintained that the revelations by ACP Dennis and the suspension and fining of former Solicitor General, Nyanti Tuan, for breaking jury rules are also reasons why all of the prosecutors who participated in the trial should be subjected to a process of accountability, instead of being nominated or promoted in a government that claims not to be doing business as usual.