The Judiciary Branch of Government has denied that it has every resisted the plan recently announced by President George Weah that he will take the lead in reducing his salary and benefits by 25%.
In a press statement signed by the Director of Judicial Information Atty Ambrose Nmah on Thursday, the Judiciary reacted to a headline story carried in the Wednesday February 14 Edition (VOL. 18. NO. 31) of the Daily Observer Newspaper publication titled, “JUDGES DISAPPROVE OF WEAH’S 25% SALARY CUT PLAN.”
“The recent pronouncement made by the President of Liberia, His Excellency George Manneh Weah, about the reduction of his salary and other benefits by 25 percent has not gone down well with the judges throughout the country.” the paper said.
The paper claims that this assertion was contained in the Charge delivered by His Honor Roosevelt Z. Willie, Resident Circuit Judge of the First Judicial Circuit Criminal Court “A”, who is also the President of the National Trial Judges Association of Liberia, at the Opening of the February A. D. 2018 Term of Court.
This headline carried by the Daily Observer Newspaper is not only a ‘BOLD-FACED LIE’ but also an attempt to bring the Judiciary and its Judges to public disrepute.
The Judiciary states that at no time were issues pertaining to the President’s pronouncement on his salary cut mentioned in open court, neither is it contained in the written Charge delivered by Judge Willie.
The Judiciary therefore wonders from whence the paper got such insinuations and for what purpose would the paper choose to publish such outright lie.
The story further goes on to state that “currently, Circuit Judges earn US$4,500 per month and Magistrates also earn US$1,500 per month.” The story continues in the following paragraph that “Judges also receive US$5,000 each as allowance plus unspecified number of scratch cards, gasoline, and medical and housing benefits, while magistrates are likely not benefiting from these things.”
The daily Observer Newspaper, in this malicious publication did not only stop there, but went further to insinuate that Justices of the Supreme Court were earning over US$25,000 monthly, all of which are pure fabrications made up by the paper and its report.
The Judiciary wishes to emphasize here, that “NO ONE WITHIN THE EMPLOY OF THE JUDICIARY IS PAID SALARY IN UNITED STATES DOLLARS” therefore, NO JUDGE earns US$4,500 salary nor Magistrate US$1,500 salary and this would have been so clear to the Newspaper and its reporter had they either listened to the Charge delivered by the Judge or taken the journalistic and professional posture to have read the written Charge, which was distributed to journalists.
The Judiciary sees the publication as a disservice to the people of Liberia and foreigners alike who are readers of the Daily Observer Newspaper, as the paper denied its readers the benefit of professional journalism and accurate information and fed them with total fabrication and misrepresentation of the facts.
This action on the part of the Daily Observer Newspaper, the Judiciary will not tolerate as this Branch of Government will not allow any person or institution involve it into Politics.
The Judiciary therefore calls on the publishers of the Daily Observer Newspaper to now perform its professional duty by retracting its front-page story of Wednesday February 14, 2018 and rendering apologies to His Honor Roosevelt Z. Willie, the National Association of Trial Judges of Liberia (NATJL), the Judiciary Branch and the Liberian people.
We also urge the Liberian Media to treat the Liberian people with fairness always in the exercise of their reportorial duties as the information consumed by your audience could have a positive or negative consequence on our Nation and its people. The Liberian Judiciary stands prepared to work with the media and any other public interest group desirous of obtaining factual information of and about the Liberian Judiciary.