Liberia: Mano Oil Palm Hit With US$405,000 Judgment Over Crippling Tractor Crash

TUBMANBURG, Bomi County-Mano Oil Palm Plantation has been ordered to pay US$405,000 in damages after the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Tubmanburg found the company liable for negligence that left a 35-year-old motorcyclist with debilitating leg injuries and unable to earn a living.

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By Willie N. Tokpah

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Resident Circuit Judge Cllr. Ciapha Carey, in a final judgment issued October 5, 2026, found that Mano Oil Palm Plantation’s driver negligently left a broken-down company tractor on a public road at night, without adequate warning signals and in the lane being used by the injured motorcyclist.

The Plaintiff was represented by the Dominion Law Group Incorporated, and the lawyers were Cllrs. Samwar S. Fallah, Lawrence Sua and Attorneys Alpha D. Senkpeni and Henry SayonYaidoo.

The court awarded US$350,000 in general damages, US$25,000 in specific damages for medical expenses, and US$30,000 in consequential damages, bringing the total financial judgment against the plantation to US$405,000, in addition to court costs.

The ruling followed a civil action brought by Isaac N. Quoiquoi of Ballah Town, Grand Cape Mount County, who sued Mano Oil Palm Plantation, its manager and CEO Asa’ad R. Fadel, and other officials and agents over the March 9, 2023 accident.

According to the court’s findings, Quoiquoi was riding his motorcycle at approximately 10 p.m. when he collided with a company tractor that had reportedly broken down and was left unattended on the roadway.

The court found the circumstances particularly troubling because the tractor had allegedly been left without reflective warning signals and on the opposite lane, creating a serious hazard for motorists using the road at night.

Police Traffic Commander Chief Inspector Mark S. Foyah testified that the police investigation held the plantation’s deceased driver, Nelson Fayiah, responsible for the accident.

The police investigation, according to the judgment, concluded that Fayiah had parked the tractor on the opposite lane after one of its tires came off and failed to place a reflective triangle or other warning to alert approaching road users.

Police subsequently charged the driver under Section 10.85 of Liberia’s Vehicle and Traffic Law, relating to signals to be displayed by disabled vehicles, and Section 10.4, relating to reckless driving.

The court said Mano Oil Palm Plantation did not dispute that its tractor had broken down on the public highway or that it had been left without reflective signals.

The court further concluded that the evidence established negligence.

“The Defendant did not dispute that its driver left the company’s tractor unattended,” the judgment states, adding that the company also failed to establish that reflective warning signals had been placed around the disabled tractor.

A Life Changed Forever

The consequences of the accident, according to testimony accepted by the court, went far beyond the initial collision.

Quoiquoi sustained severe fractures to his legs and underwent multiple surgical procedures at medical facilities in Monrovia.

Medical testimony presented during the trial described the injuries as complicated, including fractures involving the tibia and fibula, while subsequent examinations showed that the tibia had failed to heal properly.

Dr. Senga Omeonga of St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital testified that despite surgery, the tibia remained unhealed during a subsequent examination.

When asked whether a patient could walk normally while the tibia remained unhealed, the surgeon’s answer was unequivocal, “No, the patient can’t.”

Another medical witness, Dr. Robert Gayflor Mulbah, a Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon and Assistant Professor at the A.M. Dogliotti School of Medicine, testified that Quoiquoi had a complicated fracture and limb-length discrepancy.

The court found that Quoiquoi’s injuries fundamentally altered his life.

Before the accident, he depended on his ability to ride a motorcycle to earn a living and support his family.

Following the accident, the court said, he became dependent on crutches and could no longer engage in his former livelihood.

His fiancée, Agnes Anderson, told the court that the family had been plunged into severe hardship, including difficulty providing food and keeping their children in school.

Quoiquoi himself testified that his five children had been affected by his inability to work and provide for the family.

Court Rejects Mano’s Ama Defense

One of the plantation’s principal defenses was its claim that Quoiquoi’s father, Morris Quoiquoi, had signed an Against Medical Advice (AMA) document and removed his son from the plantation’s medical care.

But the defense’s own evidence became a major point of contention in the case.

Peter Mulbah, Officer-in-Charge of the Mano Oil Palm Plantation Clinic, testified that Quoiquoi was conscious at the time his father allegedly signed the AMA.

Mulbah also acknowledged that Quoiquoi had been living at home and merely returning to the clinic for post-operative wound care.

The court found the defense’s position difficult to reconcile with those facts.

Morris Quoiquoi, who was called as a subpoenaed witness by the defense, denied requesting that Mano Clinic release his son or signing an AMA.

Quoiquoi himself also denied ever being informed about an AMA and testified that his father had never discussed or signed such a document with him.

The court ultimately described the AMA defense as lacking logic under the circumstances, noting that Quoiquoi was already staying at home and returning to the clinic for post-operative care.

The ruling said it was therefore “strange and not logical” for a patient who was not permanently hospitalized to require an AMA merely to remain at home.

Mano’s Police-Investigation Claim Also Collapses

The plantation also sought to distance itself from the police investigation into the accident.

That position, however, was directly challenged by police witnesses.

Moses Fallah, Mano’s Director of Security, testified that he had not participated in the accident investigation. But Police Chief Inspector Foyah strongly disputed that account.

Foyah testified that Fallah and another Mano employee, identified as Otis, were involved in the investigation from beginning to end.

The police officer questioned why Mano personnel would have allowed investigators to use Fallah’s vehicle to travel to the accident scene if they had not participated in the investigation.

He further testified that Mano representatives returned to the police station after the investigation and negotiated for the release of the company’s tractor.

Police Commander Emmanuel Pritchard also testified that Fallah, Otis and an insurance representative were present during the investigation.

The court accepted the police evidence and found that the plantation’s attempt to disassociate itself from the investigation was not supported by the evidence.

‘Respondeat Superior’

In holding Mano Oil Palm Plantation liable, Judge Carey invoked the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, under which an employer may be held responsible for negligent acts committed by an employee in the course of employment.

The court cited a 2022 Supreme Court decision, Guaranty Trust Bank Liberia Limited v. Sie Edward Freeman, explaining that the doctrine allows liability to be imposed on an employer for tortious acts committed by its employees.

The court concluded that the negligence of Mano’s driver was imputable to the plantation.

It further held that Quoiquoi had met the civil standard of proof by establishing his claim through a preponderance of evidence, that it was more likely than not that the plantation’s negligence caused his Injuries.

Damages Must Reflect The Human Cost

In determining damages, the court considered Quoiquoi’s medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress and permanent consequences of the injuries.

Judge Carey said the evidence demonstrated that Quoiquoi could no longer enjoy life as he did before the accident and could no longer ride a motorcycle to earn a living.

The court emphasized that general damages in personal injury cases are intended to compensate for injuries that cannot easily be measured in monetary terms.

For Quoiquoi, the judgment said, the consequences included permanent physical limitations, loss of livelihood and profound changes to his family life.

The court therefore ordered Mano Oil Palm Plantation to pay, US$350,000 in general damages; US$25,000 in specific damages for medical expenses;

US$30,000 in consequential damages; and all court costs.

The total monetary award is US$405,000.

The judgment was signed and issued on October 5, 2026, by Judge Cllr. Ciapha Carey of the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Tubmanburg, Bomi County.

For Quoiquoi, the ruling represents compensation for a life dramatically altered by a nighttime collision.

For Mano Oil Palm Plantation, it represents a substantial judicial finding that the company’s handling of a disabled tractor on a public road, and the conduct of its employee, was legally responsible for the injuries that followed.