PHOTO: L-R Justice Min. Dean, SG Cephas and Temple of Justice
By Garmah Never Garmah Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Monrovia- Criminal Court ‘A’ at the Temple of Justice has held Liberia’s Justice Minister and Solicitor General in contempt, as activities of state prosecutors are paralyzed, with Justice Ministry Lawyer staging a strike action now entering its second week.
Recently, state prosecutors confirmed that Prosecutors have resolved to boycott this May Term of Court due to the CDC government failure to pay Prosecution Funds and several other demands.
Criminal Court A presided over by it Resident Circuit Judge, Roosevelt Z. Willie has held the Minister of Justice Frank Musa Dean and Liberia’s Solicitor General Sayma Syrenius Cephas for contempt of court and at the same time issued a writ of summon on them.
According to the contempt charge issued that you are hereby commanded to summon the living boobies the Justice Minister Solicitor General to appear before the first Judicial Circuit, Criminal Assizes “A”.
The court order says the two top Justice Ministry officials must appear before this Honorable to Show Cause why this court should not hold them in contempt for their Prosecutors’ failure and refusal to appear in court upon receipt of notices of assignment, since the opening of the May A.D. 2021 term of court.
The President of the association State Prosecutors, Cllr. Adolphus Kanuah said the State Prosecution team is being coordinated by the office of the Solicitor General of Liberia, Cllr. Syrenius Cephas.
Cllr. Karnuah in an interview with www.newspublictrust.com on May 8, 2021 via mobile phone said they are staging the boycott based on four demands which this current regime has failed to address since their inception.
This marks the latest in a series of strike actions being faced by the government of President George Weah by public sector employees in recent times over pay and poor working conditions.
The state prosecutors’ demands are the reduction of their salaries by 30 percent through the harmonization process.
According to him, during the pass regime, County Attorneys used to pay be with three thousand United States dollars. But currently, they taking 1,480 United States dollars with three thousand Liberian Dollars something that seriously hindering their work as state Prosecutors.
Secondly, they are government lawyers working with the Ministry of Justice with a policy that the Ministry is responsible to pay their annual Bar Association fees, but since this CDC government took over, the Ministry has since refused to pay their annual Bar fees.
Cllr, Kanuah said due to the failure of the Ministry of Justice to pay their annual Bar fees, they have no legal standing to practice law before court which is very embarrassing to them because the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA) license lawyers across the country to practice law.
Any lawyer who is licensed by the Bar are not allow to practice law in Liberia.
Thirdly, the CDC government has failed to give their entitlement, which include scratch cards and gas slip.
According to him, during former President Sirleaf regime, they as county Attorneys used to receive US$40 and US$200 gas slip but it is unfortunate for them that they are not receiving any of such entitlement.
Finally, this current regime has failed to them Prosecution funds which is meant to secure witnesses and take care of others prosecutorial issues.
The state Prosecutors president further said this government since it came to power on January 22, 2018, they no longer receiving Prosecution funds in full adding they sometimes received forty percent and remaining sixty percent will be left in lemon.
And be side they don’t receive the forty percent on time, something that usually pursue prosecuting cases from their own pockets when after their salaries were grossly harmonized.
The State Prosecutors president said until their demands are met, they will not prosecute cases for this May term of court and called on all state Prosecutors not to go on assignment until their demands are met.
He mentioned that in the rural places, state Prosecutors are “catching hell” due to lack of assign vehicle to them.