After accusing former Justice Minister Musah Dean of making the application to export the 54.34 carat diamond at the center of a litigation, in the Civil Law Court, the former Solicitor General, Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus, has failed to defend his accusation.
Cllr. Cephus asserted that “I have documents to prove that he made the application to export the 54.34 carat of diamond.” However, when the former Solicitor General was asked by the reporter through a phone conversation about his past comment against his former boss, he replied, “I can’t say anything right now, because the case is before the Civil Law Court, to enforce the Supreme Court’s judgement. I advise that you go to the court and look at their records. But all I can say is that he was cited by the court and refused to show up to provide information about the diamond. Check the records. This is highly disastrous for him, and a miscalculation on his part.”
Cephus’ accusation against Minister Dean was published just recently on an online platform, DN-News Liberia, and the King’s FM and Clar TV.
Cephus was quoted as saying, “Musa Dean used his authority to steal from the poor man”. He also said, “Cllr. Dean sold his soul to the devil for property.”
The controversial 54.34 carat diamond was discovered and recovered in Smith Town, Gharma Mining District #2. Gbarpolu County, on Claim 12 F/survey.
The ownership dispute over the diamond was resolved through a judgment delivered by the Civil Law Court and affirmation of the Supreme Court—that it was owned by David Sluward and Mohammed Kamara.
Cephus is one of the lawyers for Sluward and Kamara.
But, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the ministry sold the 53.34 carat diamond for US$1,003,880.55, instead of the US$11.5 million price tag. Although, Minister Dean acknowledged that he headed the joint security investigation board that investigated the diamond that awarded the diamond to the government, but he did not make any application for the ministry to export the diamond.
Cllr. Dean’s argument has been based on Section 22.2 of the Executive Law, which gives the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General the authority to provide his legal opinion on matters related to the interest of the government and its agencies.
The rift between Cephus and Dean began when they were employed with the Ministry of Justice as minister and solicitor general, respectively. However, Cephus was placed on sanction by the US State Department, and he later resigned, blaming Dean for the sanction.