The Supreme Court of Liberia has ruled in favor of the National Campaign Management Team of Julius Kanubah in a case seeking to overturn a controversial mandate by Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe.
In a ruling delivered Tuesday, 19 December 2023, the Supreme Court said Justice Nagbe was in error to have ordered the lifting of a Stay Order placed on all activities of the former administration of the Press Union of Liberia including a soโcalled induction of officersโelect.
The Supreme Court found that in mandating the reversal of the Stay Order, Justice Nagbe failed to issue an alternative writ, thereby denying the right of the Kanubah Campaign Team to due process.
โIt was, therefore, an error on the part of the Justice in Chambers to have ordered the trial judge to set aside his stay order imposed without issuing the alternative writ and determining the information filed before him,โ the ruling said.
โWe, therefore, answer the first issue that our colleague inadvertently erred,โ declares the Supreme Court in a five-page ruling.
It added that โThe order of the Justice in Chambers to the judge in the court below to set aside the stay order on the induction of the officers-elect of the Press Union of Liberia, absent the issuance of the alternative writ, is hereby reversed.โ
The Stay Order was imposed on 15 December 2022 by the Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Bong County, J. Boimah Kontoe, pending a legal determination into a Petition for Declaratory Judgment filed by the Kanubah Campaign Team on 18 November 2022.
In its ruling read by Associate Justice Yussif D. Kabba, the Supreme Court ordered the Clerk of Court to send a mandate to the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, ordering the presiding Judge to resume jurisdiction and proceed in keeping with the law regarding Team Kanubahโs Petition for Declaratory Judgment.
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The verdict by the Supreme Court is a major victory for the Kanubah Campaign Team as it effectively reinforces and further strengthens the Judgeโs Stay Order, restraining Charles Coffey, Daniel Nyakonah, Musa Kenneh, Akoi Baysah, and their collaborators from conducting the affairs of the PUL.
Tuesdayโs verdict was signed by Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, Associate Justice Jamesetta Howard Wolokolie, and Associate Justice Yussif D. Kaba.
The two other Associate Justices Joseph N. Nagbe and Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay, Sr., did not sign because they recused themselves from the case during a hearing on 2 May 2023 to avoid conflict of interest.
In the wake of the verdict, the National Campaign Management Team of Julius Kanubah and Beatrice Sieh for the leadership of the PUL will officially hold a major press conference on Wednesday, 20 December 2023, in Monrovia.
Team Kanubah again thanks its supporters and members of the PUL as well as sympathizers for the overwhelming support and patience as it seeks justice and accountability amid alleged โacts of fraudโ by the former PUL administration of Charles Coffey, Daniel Nyakonah, Musa Kenneh, Akoi Baysah, and their collaborators.–Press release
