With the Supreme Court’s 3-2 votes at the weekend, the justices of the Full Bench of the highest court in Liberia have rejected Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh’s prohibition request against the House of Representatives.
This means now that the way is clear for the Senate to conduct the impeachment trial of Justice Ja’neh, who has on his head a Bill of Impeachment filed earlier this year by two CDC Representatives from Montserrado County, Acarious Gray (Dist#8) and Thomas Fallah (Dist #5).
Chief Justice Francis Saye Korkpor, Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe and Ad Hoc Justice Boima Kontoe were the justices that voted “no”, while Associate Justices Jamesetta Howard Wolokollie and Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh oted yes on the prohibition request.
Yuoh was the Justice-in-Chambers who, on August 18 of this year imposed a stay order on members of the House of Representatives, preventing them from proceeding with the impeachment of Ja’neh and subsequently asked the lawmakers to appear for hearing into Ja’neh’s petition against his impeachment.
Representatives Gray and Fallah said in their Impeachment Petition, that Justice Ja’neh is allegedly involved in misconduct, abuse of public office, wanton abuse of judicial discretion, fraud, misuse of power and corruption.
Article 43 of the 1986 Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to prepare a bill of impeachment.
“The power to prepare a bill of impeachment is vested solely in the House of Representatives, and the power to try all impeachments is vested solely in the Senate. When the President, Vice President or an Associate Justice is to be tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; when the Chief Justice or a judge of a subordinate court of record is to be tried, the President of the Senate shall preside. No person shall be impeached but by the concurrence of two-thirds of the total membership of the Senate. Judgements in such cases shall not extend beyond removal from office and disqualification to hold public office in the Republic; but the party may be tried at law for the same offense. The Legislature shall prescribe the procedure for impeachment proceedings, which shall be in conformity with the requirements of due process of law,” the Article said.
But the Senate is divided over going ahead with the impeachment trial and those opposing it are being defended by former Solicitor General Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe. Those opposing the impeachment are in the minority. Two of the minority Senator most vocal against going ahead with the impeachment of Justice Ja’neh are River Gee County Senator Commany B. Wisseh and Gbarpolu Senator Danien Nethan.
In the rule 63 arguments, Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe relied on Article 29 of the 1986 Constitution which, he argued, provides that “The legislative power of the Republic shall be vested in the Legislature of Liberia, which shall consist of two separate houses: A Senate and a House of Representatives, both of which must pass on all legislation. The enacting style shall be: ‘It is enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Liberia in Legislature assembled.’
He again explained that despite the two houses enacting or amending the rules, the majority (respondents) went ahead to amend Rule 63, which is “meant for the normal conduct of the business of the Senate to provide the procedure for impeachment proceedings.”
“They appropriated unto themselves the authority to prescribe the procedure for impeachment to the exclusion of the House of Representatives,” Gongloe said.
In counter-argument, Cllr. Varney Sherman, also Senator for Grand Cape Mount County said that Senator Wesseh et al have no case against them because the four aggrieved senators were physically present during the deliberation about amending rule 63 of the Senate standing rule.