Monrovia – The Supreme Court of Liberia has put an immediate stay order on the sale and closure of the Baptist Theological Seminary. The court also declared the President of the seminary Richard Wilson free and no longer a wanted man.
The Court took the decision to put on hold the sale of the Seminary after the intervention of a student of the seminary representing the legal interest of the Seminary who filed a writ of prohibition to stop the sale of the Seminary properties.
Recently the popular religious education facility, located off the Robertsfield highway was put up for sale following a writ of Execution from the Resident Judge of the Labour Court for all properties of the entity to be sold for failure to pay debt.
In the Writ of Execution issued by Her Honour, Judge S. Comfort Natt, the properties of the Baptist Seminary should be put on sale in order to raise money to settle the entity’s obligation to Dr. Lincoln S. Brownell of the City of Monrovia.
Dr. Brownell served as President of the Seminary before his removal in 2007 by the former President of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention.
During the dispute over leadership that led to the removal of Dr. Brownell, a Mercer University professor served the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary as President.
Following his removal in October, 2013, Dr. Brownell sued the Baptist Seminary in the National Labour Court seeking legal redress to his removal. The Labour Court ordered the Baptist Seminary to pay more than US$300,000 in damages to its former president, Dr. Brownell.
The Seminary was shut down in 2014 based on order from the Labour court.
But in her writ of prohibition to the Supreme Court, Cllr Pearl Brown Bull in the interest of the Baptist Seminary proved to the court that the money was paid through a check.
Cllr. Bull proved to the high court that the check issued by the Seminary was endorsed by the Sherriff of the Labour Court, Major Helena N. Smith, arguing that the money was paid to her (Sheriff Helena Smith) to be turn over to Dr. Brownell.
After listening to the Seminary’s legal representative, Cllr. Bull, the court immediately dispatched a team of sheriffs to re-open the seminary.
Shortly after the ruling, the President of the Baptist seminary described the wanted writ as a distraction.
Mr. Wilson said there was great error in the article written by FrontPageAfrica, saying the source behind the article suggested he (Richard Wilson) came to the Seminary in January 2014 to resolve the issue between Brownell and the seminary. “That information is absolutely not true. I came to the Baptist Seminary in January 2014 as the President of the Liberia Theological Seminary in order to restore the financial integrity of the institution; to increase the academic curriculum of the institution and to repair significant damage brought about by the previous two presidents with donors and friends of Liberia and the United States,” he noted.
Mr. Wilson noted the case with Dr. Brownell at the Labour Court has been a distraction but added that it has been part of his purpose of being at the seminary. “During the course of my time here at the seminary, no less than five times I have come under the writ of execution threatened by arrest so that the court could size this property and sell it. I want to say forcefully that from the beginning we felt that justice will be serve, from the very beginning, we believe the suit has been placed under certain circumstances,” He stated.
The Baptist Seminary President noted that the intention of Dr. Brownell was to bring embarrassment to him (Richard Wilson) and the entire seminary. He added that the seminary has from the beginning been resolved to do the right thing and continue the education and purpose the seminary was founded for.
He noted that he was never in anyway embarrassed because of Dr. Brownell lawsuit against him. “I want to say very clearly that not on one day was I embarrassed or felt intimidated, because when you are in the right you can be confident that you are in the right, and when you are surrounded by competent people who are interested in preserving the rights and integrity of this institution, even with the distraction we never lost our objective for doing the right thing,” he explained.
The Writ of Execution that was recently issued at the Baptist Seminary states: “You are hereby commanded to seize and expose for sale the lands, goods, chattels of the Management of Baptist Theological Seminary (Liberia) by and through its President the final amount and if the sum realized therefrom is not sufficient, then seize their real property until you shall have realized the full amount mentioned herein above and if you cannot find any lands, goods chattels of the said respondent/appellant, you are hereby commanded to arrest the agent/president and bring him forthwith before the National Labour Court, Temple of Justice to be dealt with before the National Labour Court, Temple of Justice to be dealt with according to the law unless he will pay the sum or show property to seize and sell for the amount and upon receiving from said sale or otherwise said sum of money, you are further commanded to pay the said amount owed the above named Appellee, the sum of the money necessary to satisfy the judgment herein, and reserve unto yourself the costs of money made known to this court at the next sitting to be held on the first Thursday of June A.D. 2016, same being the 9th Day of June 2016”.