By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia—It is now known that Archie Ponpon, a staffer at the Liberian Judiciary set himself ablaze earlier today, Monday in protest against what he said was his “illegal suspension” from work indefinitely.
Archie, who poured gasoline on himself, is in very critical condition at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center, where he was immediately rushed after his self-inflicted serious burn. As the fire blazed, Court officers used water from the Coronavirus bucket to put off the fire.
Activist Ponpon has a history of staging public protest, but setting himself ablaze is the first ever done by him or any Liberian in living memory. In April 2018, Mr. Ponpon staged a hunger strike in from of the United States Embassy in Monrovia, where he fainted and had to be rushed by from the Mamba Point diplomatic enclave, after he collapsed.
One of the ring leaders of a series of recent protests at the aggrieved Judicial workers on the grounds the Temple of Justice over unpaid portion of their salaries, Archie action on November 2, 2020 was his personal resistance of what was said to be his “illegal suspension” Judicial authorities.
Archie Ponpon shortly before setting himself ablaze
Last Friday, the radical Judicial staffer refused to accept a Writ of Arrest from the Monrovia City Court, but it is not clear who actually issued the writ in question.
Mr. Ponpon said his suspension from office by the Personnel/Human Resource office at the Judiciary allegedly came about through the influence of the Chief Justice.
Back in early October, protest by Archie Ponpon and other aggrieved staffers of the Liberian Judiciary disrupted the graduation of the Judicial Institute on Capitol Hill, in the latest in a series of demonstration against cut in their pay.
Archie Ponpon’s suspension letter
That early October protest, the second in a series in one week saw scores of dissatisfied Judicial employees chanted negative slogans against Chief Justice Francis Korkpor, who they blame for their plight along with members of the Supreme Court bench.
The court grounds of serenity turned rather chaotic, with the workers marching, singing and chanting, as they beat empty containers as drums in demand of their 12 months Liberian Dollars component of their salaries.
Flashback aggrieved judicial workers protest early October