PHOTO: Cllr. Tiawon Gongloe speaking to Journalists in Monrovia on Tuesday
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Days after the Supreme Court expressed concern about the United States Treasury Department’s report linking one of its members, Cllr. H. Varney Sherman to a bribery scandal in court cases, the President of the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA), Cllr. Tiawon Gongloe has welcomed the report.
The US Treasury Department accused the veteran Liberian Lawyer now Senator Sherman of bribing Judges and engaging in acts of corruption, something Cllr. Sherman has vehemently denied.
Cllr. Sherman recently told Journalists that Americans didn’t obtain sufficient evidence to link him to such an allegation in their recent report,.
But the LNBA President, Cllr. Gongloe has said he agrees with the US Treasury Department’s report.
The Supreme Court of Liberia in a statement last week said: “Until now the Judiciary Branch, headed by the Supreme Court, has withheld comments and reactions to allow for consultations with the US Embassy near Monrovia for the benefit of receiving more information on the matter. Following these consultations, the Judiciary wishes to make it emphatically clear that as an institution, it has zero tolerance for bribery and all other forms of corrupt practices. As such it does not and will never allow or condone the act of any lawyer, party litigant or whosoever desiring to “exercise influence” over it. “
But speaking to team of Journalists at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, Cllr. Gongloe said the US Treasury Department is a technical department which can never put out report without evidence and they acted within the confines of the law.
The LNBA President also said he believes that the US Treasury Department report is not targeting a particular person in Liberia and they as lawyers should take the Treasury Department report very serious, because the US is equipped with many modern technology to track down crimes and others
Cllr. Varney Sherman
If it were the US State Department which is deals with political issues, then it needs to be looked at technically, he said.
But Cllr. Gongloe asserted that once it is the US Treasury Department ,it is because they usually have evidence before releasing report.
The President of the LNBA then reminded Journalists that similar thing happened at the initial stage of former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s regime, when people were saying there is no evidence that people crossed from Liberia to Sierra Leone and they even asked for footage. But Cllr. Gongloe said their questions were not priority to the ICC (International Criminal Court), because the US and all it agencies are well equipped.
The LNBA President further stated that he is advising his colleagues and judges to guide themselves, as we are living in a global village with technologies on the increase where people can be track down form any part of the world.
Cllr. Gongloe therefore said he can’t disagree with the Treasury Department report because he has done lot of research on this department upon which they can’t release any report without evidence.
But the Liberian Bar Association President didn’t whether or not the LNBA will take decision against Cllr. Sherman, even though they are not feeling good about the alleged act committed by the veteran Liberian Lawyer in the US report against their colleague.
Highlighting LACC Boss Issues
Cllr. Gongloe has called on the Liberian Senate not to approve any budgetary allotment for the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) until its chairperson Ndubusi Nwabudike can be removed.
The LNBA President has meanwhile, hailed the Senate for taking said matter very serious, because if Liberia is to improve it must begin with them at the first branch of government.
In June of 2020, the LNBA expelled the LACC boss Lawyer Ndubusi Nwabudike for allegedly acquiring fraudulent citizenship, after he failed to prove his nationality during confirmation hearing at the Liberian Senate.
The Bar Association’s President has also called on the Liberian Senate to make President Weah respect them more.
And the way to make him (President Weah) to do so, Cllr. Gongloe said, is not to approve any budgetary appropriation for the LACC and should not even consider the act that President Weah said he will be submitting before them. Something he said is where the members of the Senate power lies.
According to him, the amended law and witlebrower act were done under the chairmanship of the embattled LACC boss, Ndubusi Nwabudike whose citizenship is questionable and should be undergoing prosecution by now.
At the same time, the LNBA President has advise the Senate to make it clear to the President that they are not acting on anything coming from the LACC until the LACC boss Ndubusi Nwabudike is removed from office, because the LACC is an integrity institution and such it should be heads by who have integrity.