Hope lies in the Supreme Court for true justice

The Supreme Court of Liberia, on Wednesday, December 10, 2014, suspended hearing into the complaint filed by forty-eight former members of the Liberian Legislature during the country’s transitional period. The complaint was triggered by the ‘refusal’ of the current government (Ministry of Finance and Development Planning) to pay them Seven Million, Three Hundred and Forty-four Thousand U.S Dollars as benefits.

Hearing into the complaint was suspended because Associate Justice Phillip Z. Banks decided to abstain from the case because a review of the records in the case indicated that the matter was laid before him on October 20, 2007 in his capacity at the time as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Liberia. This matter has been pending for more than five years at the Supreme Court of Liberia, following the issuance of an alternative writ of mandamus on October 30, 2009.

Even though His Honor, Justice Banks has decided to stay off the case as per the aforementioned justification, and owing to the fact that the matter has been pending for more than five years before the Court without disposal, he would communicate with His Honor, Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor, Sr. on the same day (Wednesday) about his decision to stay away from the case so that another justice can determine the matter.

While this is highly appreciated, we only pray the Supreme Court to speed up the process to a logical conclusion. Whether or not the Government of Liberia (Ministry of Finance and Development Planning) was right to have rejected what was passed into law by the Liberian Legislature, the Supreme Court of Liberia is the only hope for true justice for the former Liberian Lawmakers. All that we hope and pray for is hearing into the case as soon as possible so that “Justice can be Done to All.”