Supreme Court Issues Writ Of Prohibition To Hold Conference With Parties Tomorrow, Monday As Chambers Justice Stops Move By Assets Recovery Taskforce
PHOTO; Finda Bondo’s fleet of taxis with service name. “Gracious Ride”
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia- Following the seizure of Glorious ride vehicles believed to be owned by former President George Weah Executive Mansion chief of protocol Finda Bondo, the Supreme Court Chambers Justice Yussif D. Kaba has ordered the release of those vehicles seized by the Assets Recovery and property retrieval team.
Earlier this month (March) Liberia’s 26th President Joseph Nyuma Boakai issued Executive Order #126 Assets Recovery Taskforce to retrieve government properties, money and other stolen properties from former officials.
“I, Joseph Nyuma Boakai, President of the Republic of Liberia, hereby issue this Executive Order #126, with an intent to immediately take steps to retrieve, recover, restore and reinstate our fixed and liquid assets from within and out of our borders that have been converted to private use by government officials and employees that were placed in positions of trust,” says the Executive Order which has been published by the Executive Mansion in Monrovia. Boakai Issues Executive Order #126 To Seize Stolen Assets & Prosecute Corrupt Officials – News Public Trust
But Supreme Court Justice Kaba last week issued an order minutes after the vehicle owner filed a petition for a writ of prohibition.
A writ of prohibition is a writ directing a subordinate to stop doing something the law prohibits. This writ is often issued by a superior court to the lower court directing it not to proceed with a case which does not fall under its jurisdiction.
The Chambers Justice writ cites the Unity Party government authorities and former Weah Protocol chief Finda Bondo to a conference with his Honor Justice Kaba on Monday April 1,2024, at 11:00am in connection with the above captioned case.
Executive Order #126 says, among other things:
“The Task Force has the following mandate:
- Identify and trace all of Liberia’s stolen and suspicious assets within and out of the borders of Liberia;
- Constitute investigative Panel to probe into Liberia’s stolen and suspicious assets;
- Constitute an effective and robust legal, research and investigative team to procure and prepare tangible evidence;
- Initiate immediate criminal prosecution and civil litigation where applicable on behalf of the Government of Liberia;
- Upon Adjudication, return confiscated assets to Liberia;
- Place Travel and other restrictions on all individuals identified as suspects while undergoing investigation for stolen and suspicious assets;
- Employ diplomatic and Interpol means to extradite individuals identified as suspects that are outside the bailiwick of Liberia in order to bring them under the jurisdiction of the investigative team; and
- The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning shall with immediate effect allocate and disburse funding based on the budget presented for the full implementation of this exercise.”
Meanwhile, you are ordered to release all the vehicles seized and stay all seizure pending outcome of the conference.
There was a similar scenario with the recent seizure in the possession of the former Inspector General of Police in the ex-government, Patrick Sudue.
On Wednesday, March 27,2024, the “Glorious Ride” vehicles and several vehicles belonging to the former Police IG Patrick Sudue were impounded by the Assets Recovery and property Retrieval team headed by former Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission boss Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin and team.