The New Dawn Liberia | Truly Independent

Drama unfolded Tuesday at the Civil Law Court in Monrovia when the mother of Rivercess County Senator Jonathan Barney’s late fiancée nearly attacks the Senator in court after her testimony.

The unsettled dowry deal between River Cess County Senior Senator J. Jonathan Barney and his  late fiancée Cecelia Boe’s family nearly went into a physical attack against Senator Barney when his aged mother-in-law, who took the witness stand, angrily advanced on him after being discharged from the witness box.

Old lady Family Boe (late Cecelia’s mother) angrily advanced Barney with her walking stick as she spoke in her dialect (Bassa) when she was immediately prevented by her lawyer Counselor David Woah, who  quickly intervened.

Family members of the late Cecelia Boa had taken the Senator to Court following the death of their daughter, demanding him to pay her dowry before burying the corpse in line tradition since he allegedly failed to do so while the woman was alive. The couples lived together for about 30 years and were blessed with five children before Cecelia died recently following a protracted illness.

In her testimony Tuesday, which was translated by Grand Bassa County Representative Baron Brown, brother of the deceased, old lady Family Boe said Senator Barney should not bury her daughter Cecelia because he allegedly treated her like a slave.

“I don’t want him to bury her as a slave; I want him to give me the body so I can bury her as the way I bore her”, she said.

The old woman told the court that since the death of her daughter, Barney failed to contact her and allegedly stopped her grandchildren (Cecelia’s Children) from speaking to her.

Besides, Family Boe said when she realized that Senator Barney did not want to adhere to their demands to dowry Cecelia over the 30 years, she encouraged her daughter to leave his home, but she refused on grounds that she had bore children for him.

“Their living together was love. It is love that carried her. My late husband approached Barney two times but he refused,” she further narrated in tears.

However, two of the prosecution witnesses John Peters and Esther Boe Watson seemed to be at contrast with previous revelations.

Opposed to Family Boe’s testimony that Cecelia died while she was with Senator Barney, witness Esther Watson testified that Barney brought Cecelia back to the family for help after he unsuccessfully sought medication in Ghana and elsewhere.

Esther told the court that the Boe Family was informed of Cecelia’s transferred from the Green Pasture Funeral Home in Smell No Taste in Margibi County to the Stryker Funeral Home in Monrovia for processing, but with the agreement that Barney and the Boe family would have another meeting the next day.

However, the unsettled dowry deal between both families seems to be dragging as the deceased’s mother insists the Senator will not bury her daughter. Senator Barney is expected to take the witness stand today.