With Legitimate Landlord Wining The Case, But CDC Lawyers Have Taken Exception To Monday’s Court Ruling
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia –The Civil Law Court ‘A’, at the Temple of Justice assigned Judge George W. Smith has ordered the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) part of former President George Manneh Weah to vacate its national headquarters in Monrovia’s Congo Town suburb immediately, but CDC’s lawyers have taken exception to the ruling.
The property, spanning 4.23 acres, has been legally affirmed to belong to the Barnard family estate.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Liberia denied a CDC Bill of Information previously filed. Weah’s CDC On Verge Of Being Evicted From HQ, As Supreme Court Upholds Lower Court’s Eviction Order – News Public Trust
In his ruling delivered today, Monday August 4, 2025, Judge Smith upheld the legitimacy of a sale and purchase agreement between CDC and the estate’s administrators. The decision follows a motion for summary judgment filed by attorneys representing the Barnards family, which the court granted—citing no material facts in dispute.
The ruling added that, the judgment reinforces a 2016 Supreme Court ruling that had previously awarded ownership of the land to the Barnards estate, represented by Administrator Ebrima Varney Dempster.
Barely seventy-three hours prior to the eviction order, on Friday, Judge Smith denied a separate motion from CDC lawyers seeking to compel the estate to sell the property. The court found no legal grounds to enforce such a sale.
However, CDC lawyer after the ruling excepted and filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, demanding further review through Justice in Chambers Cieaneh Clinton-Johnson.
Rule 56 of the Liberian Civil Procedure Law, summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issues of material fact exist and the law clearly favors one side—allowing the court to resolve the case without a full trial, the court ruling says.