Civil Society Council welcomes Supreme Court ruling

The National Civil Society Council of Liberia has lauded and welcomed the ruling handed down by the Supreme Court through Associate Justice Jamesetta Howard Wolokollie.

The ruling calls on authorities of Bong County to establish a county council in line with the Local Government Act of 2018 (LGA-018) before the holding of a county sitting. 

According to a press release, the National Civil Society Council of Liberia described the ruling by the High Court as a golden day for justice in the county. 

The release under the signature of Chairperson Madam Loretta Alethea Popekai said the Bong County Chapter of the National Civil Society Council of Liberia led by the Foundation for International Dignity (FIND), the Media and Civil Education-Liberia (MACE), and Delta Human Rights Foundation, Inc., filed a writ of prohibition to the High Court, craving for a moratorium to be placed on the holding of the special county sitting until the establishment of a county council in line with the LGA-018. 

The Council believes the ruling comes at the right time, given the enormous issues arising from counties related to how decisions are being made relative to the Implementation of the County Social Development Fund (CSDF), and that the Supreme Court’s decision is in the right direction in ensuring transparency, accountability, inclusion and efficiency in the implementation of CSDF across the country.   

 The Bong Chapter of the Council took advantage of the Local Government Act in filling a prohibition against the county sitting earlier scheduled for 23 April 2022. 

 It quoted Article 19 of the Local Government Act which requires an appointed body of a county to have regulatory, representative and confirmatory functions and powers. 

According to the Council, Article 20 also empowers it to, among others, promulgate ordinances, rules and regulations for the promotion of peace, unity, reconciliation, maintenance of public order and security, and the delivery of basic public goods and services, consistent with law.

 The law further gives the Council the right to impose local taxes, rates, duties, fees and fines within limits prescribed by the Legislature and to establish rules to govern the activities of the Council and the administration of the Council Support Office. Press Release